Finding the Harem
by Lashana Inferno
Summary: A month after the deaths of Lashana & Telca in Final Battle the Harem slowly begins to drift apart.... and only one thing can bring them back together. 3rd in the Avatar Series *COMPLETE!*
1. Aftermath

  
_Disclaimer: None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_

_This is the third installment in the Avatar Series. You MUST have read 'Final Battle' and 'I Would Die For You' to understand what's goin' on. Comprende? Good._   
  


Aftermath Part 1   
  


Two weeks   
  


It had been the longest two weeks of their lives. An yet... their lives seemed so...empty now. Kang sighed heavily and rose his gaze to the sky, his right hand lying on the thick bandages that were still wrapped around his ribs. They still hadn't Healed yet... but somehow, he didn't care about the pain. All he could think about was Lashana and Telca. 

Two weeks. It seemed like it had been much longer. Blackwargreymon was still down in the infirmary recovering from what the Demon Highlord had done to him. Beast didn't know if the Digimon would ever emotionally recover... Remy had just been discharged from the infirmary two days ago. He'd locked himself in Telca's room and hadn't been seen since. 

Kang clenched his eyes shut and slammed a fist down onto the deck's railing. "Why? Why did you have to go and--" His voice cracked. "...why?" 

A commotion in the Kitchen made him turn to look at Beast as the mutant ran into the room, a wild panicked look in his eyes. "What is it?!" 

"It's Blackwargreymon! He's gone!" 

"_WHAT?!_" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Hi! You've reached Lashana and Telca at the Land of the Harem dimension. We're not here-" 

"Because we're online! Email us!" 

"Telca!" There was the sound of a smack. "ANYWAY. Leave your name and number after the beep and we'll try to get back to you soon!" 

*beeep* 

_Click._

"Hi! You've reached Lashana and Telca at the Land of the Harem dimension--" 

_Click._

Blackwargreymon stared at the machine for a moment before roaring and throwing it across the bedroom, raising his hands to his face afterwards as he started sobbing uncontrollably. He curled up on the bed, _their bed_, and pulled her pillow over his face, wetting it with his tears. "Lashana.... Oh Gods I miss you...." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Beast looked at Kang where they stood outside the half open door. "Perhaps we should leave him be." 

Kang swallowed thickly and nodded, reaching out to silently close the door the rest of the way, muffling the soul wrenching sobs from within the room. 

Beast sighed heavily and turned to head back to his lab. Everyone had felt the impact of Lashana and Telca's deaths, and everyone just couldn't seem to get over it. It was like a wound that wouldn't heal. The emptiness was nearly overwhelming.... "I never realized...how much they had touched us." 

Kang glanced at him wearily. "Too bad you realized that two weeks too late."   
  
  
  


Three weeks   
  


Mewtwo lay curled up in his hammock. In actuality he hadn't moved from his hammock much in the past three weeks. He had used Recover on himself, so it wasn't that he was too injured to move. He just lacked the will. He just lay there, staring at the far wall. There were no tears anymore, he had cried himself out a week ago. Now only a barren emptiness remained, and it was consuming more and more of him everyday. 

A hesitant knock on his door elicted no response, neither did the sight of the teenager that crept into the room. 

"Hey...Mewtwo? Dude?" Nightcrawler met the unblinking gaze and shivered at how empty the pokemon's eyes seemed. "Hey... Wolverine wants to know if you're hungry. He's makin'... he's makin burgers out on the grill..." 

_Burgers were her favorite..._ He twitched his tail and blinked at the young mutant, noting the emotional exhaustion in the teens eyes. _We're going to kill ourselves this way. _~I'm not hungry... but... It would do me good to move around a bit. I'll be out shortly.~ He watched as the teen teleported out of his room, and rolled over in the hammock, starting out the window morosely. _Live for you... what's the point when you're not here to make life worth living?_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Hey. Remy. You in there?" Blackwargreymon rasped, reaching up to rub at his sore throat. He had drained what little remaining strength he had when he had broken down again that morning at the sight of Lashana's favorite t-shirt. But once he had learned that the Cajun hadn't left the room in over a week.... "Remy. Open up. It's Black." 

"What you want?" 

He sighed and rested his forehead against the door, missing the feeling of the horns on either side of his head. They were gone for good now. In the past three weeks his hair had grown long enough to hide the healing scars, but it just didn't seem the same to him. "Let me in...please..." There was the sound of the door unlocking before it swung open to reveal a ragged looking Cajun. "I miss her too." 

Remy winced and closed his eyes at those words, rising a hand to wipe at the fresh tears. "What you want?" 

"The same thing you do." 

"Never happen, mon ami." 

"I'll settle for having some company for lunch then." 

Remy sighed and looked up at the Digimon, noting the familiar shadow of loss in his eyes. "Okay." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"I simply cannot believe that mi amiga is....gone..." Malcho closed his eyes and rose a wing to wipe at his tears. "It's so...empty here now. I....I do not think that I can live here any longer, amigos." 

"We can't break up! What if-" 

"If what? If they return from the dead?! We all know that nothing of the sort will happen!" Malcho hissed, glaring at Nightcrawler. "I cannot stand to live here any longer! Every time I turn around I expect Lashana to be there... or Telca to throw something at me! It's tearing me apart!!" 

"I think Malcho's right." 

The group of Zelgadis, Malcho, Mewtwo, Kang and Nightcrawler turned at the low rumble, looking at Wolverine in mixed dread and sympathy. They knew that the feral was a coiled mess of emotion right now. At this point in time his reactions were unpredictable at best. 

"I'm not stayin' either," he continued. "I just can't." 

"Then....where are you gonna go?" 

"Away. Just...away."   
  


Four weeks

Mewtwo sighed as he watched Wolverine, Malcho, Zelgadis, Blackwargreymon and Kang walk down the Palace's driveway. Kenshin and Nightcrawler had left a day ago. Duncan and Remy three days before that. Now it was just him, Xellos and Beast. He sighed and rested his head against the window pane, wondering why he wasn't among those leaving. It wasn't like there was anything here for him... But where else did he have to go? Who else would accept him... _Maybe it's time I end all of this...permanently._   
  
  



	2. A Second Chance

  
_Disclaimer: The Harem, Lashana, Telca and almost everything else doesn't belong to us. The storyline is ours, however, so no taking of our ideas please._   


_Note: This chapter includes attempted suicide. For that reason, this chapter is rated R. You have been forwarned._   


_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_

A Second Chance   


Darkness was all there had been for what could have been five minutes or five years. There was simply a lack of anything. No light, no air, no life...nothing. It was as if the world had ended.... 

....Just to be reborn in an explosion of unbridled Power that rivaled that of the Big Bang. 

"Ooohh... my achin' head...." 

"_Your_ head? My entire _body_ hurts..." 

Lashana groaned and opened her eyes, blinking at what seemed to be a calm blue ocean directly below her. _Why am I sleeping on the ocean?_ She pushed herself up to her knees and looked over at Telca before glancing down at her arms, staring at the distinct lack of spines for a moment before her eyes started watering.... "We won....." 

Telca closed her eyes and bowed her head. _I wish there had been another way.... But as long as Remy's okay.... wait a damned minute._ "Lashana?" 

"What?" she sniffled, her breath coming in hiccups. 

"Um....we're supposed to be dead...right? Then what the hell are we doing _here?!_" 

Lashana rubbed at her eyes and looked around. It was like they were standing on a glass floor millimeters above an endless blue ocean. But there was no sky, no sun, no wind...just light... "I have no idea." 

**We brought you here.**

Both sorceresses spun at the voice, their gazes falling on a golden haired women that seemingly floated a foot above what they had termed 'the floor'. Her eyes were hidden beneath her long bangs, but the white sleeveless dress she wore seemed to move as if caught in some unfelt wind. 

"Who...who are you? Who's we?" Telca frowned as she got to her feet and helped a still shaky Lashana to stand, supporting the Elf when she nearly collapsed. "Hey, you okay?" 

Lashana stared at the woman, her eyes wide in shock. "L--L-Sama?" When the woman nodded she grabbed Telca's arm and gasped. "Telca! That's L-Sama! The Lord of Nightmares!!" 

"_What?!_" 

**It is true. I am the Lord of Nightmares. As for who the 'we' in this little operation is...** She turned and rose a hand, gesturing in the air. **They have awakened.**

**Oh. Good. I was beginning to think we had accidentally killed them.**

Telca gaped at the other female that just _appeared_ next to L-Sama. If she didn't know any better, she'd have sworn that this new person had just stepped out of the 'Firebird' story from the Fantasia 2000 movie."Whoa..." 

**I believe that you best know me as Gaia, do you not?** When the two sorceress nodded dumbly, she smiled. **Do you wish to know where you are? **Another duet of nods. **L-Sama...if you would?**

The other Goddess shrugged. **This is my realm. The Sea of Chaos. I am surprised that you did not recognize it, Lashana.**

The Elf blinked. "You know me?!" 

**I know all who use my Power. Especially the ones who can wield it with such skill.**

"She obviously wasn't watching when you first wove it," Telca muttered, elbowing Lashana in the ribs. 

"Oh shut up," she hissed. 

Telca smirked. "What? You expected me to change just because I'm dead?" 

Lashana rolled her eyes before turning to look at the two Goddesses. "Why'd you bring us here? And why'd you help us before?" 

**I'll answer the second question first.** Gaia said, her voice sounding like the calming waters of a stream. **We helped you because we were drawn to your pure hearted wishes to save those you love. We've been waiting for two people like you for a millennia.**

"People like us?" Telca echoed. "What's that mean?" 

L-Sama smiled. **That ties in with the Elf's first question. We brought you here because it seems that you two now have....unique abilities. To put it bluntly, by helping you before...we accidentally made you our Avatars.**

"_WHAT?!_" 

**It's not that it was an accident, per se. Just that your souls seem to have irreversibly melded with our Powers**, Gaia said. **Actually I think it would be nice to have an Avatar. It gets so boring being a Goddess sometimes. It's be nice to have someone to drop in on every now and again.**

"Well golly gee, we're glad we can be of entertainment value." 

Lashana winced. "Telca. Don't piss off the Goddesses, okay?" She turned to the two and frowned. "What's the deal?" 

**There is none.** L-Sama told them, shaking her head slightly.** What is done is done. You are our Avatars. The only way that can be changed would be if we were to kill you and rip our Power from your souls.**

"Ouch." 

**Very.** Gaia agreed. 

"Then why didn't you? Kill us I mean?" Telca frowned. "Why'd you save us?" 

**You'd rather be dead?**

"I didn't mean it _that _way..." Telca muttered. 

"I think she meant to ask if there's a bad side to all of this," Lashana explained hurriedly. 

**Not unless you count the fact that you are both changed forever.** At the two sorceresses looks of panic, L-Sama sighed and looked at Gaia. **These mortals panic so easily.**

**After what they've been through, I don't blame them. What we mean, is that our Powers have melded with the two of you. You've become equal in physical strength and in your Magicks. You've also gained the new ability to transform into your Avatar forms. And your life spans have lengthened considerably, with the added bonus that you've stopped aging.**

Telca grinned at Lashana. "Kewl. No wrinkles." 

"No diapers." 

"I kinda wanted to go senile and start smacking kids with a cane for no apparent reason though...." 

"You did that two months ago. When we went to the grocery store." 

"Oh yeah...." 

"Okaaay. Next question : which of your powers are in which of us? And why?" 

L-Sama looked at Lashana and chuckled. **I think I see why you like these mortals, Gaia. You, Lashana, hold my Chaos within you. I suppose I can even call you my Knight. You gained my Power because you had already wielded many Black Magick spells and my Chaos numerous times before.**

**You Telca, hold the Power of the Elements and of Life within you.** Gaia said, meeting the burgundy sorceress' gaze. **I chose you because of your soul. You have seen and experienced both good and evil in your life. And yet you retain a love for nature and your fellow people that surprises me. What's more, is that you already had a small amount of my powers within you. Your ability to Heal comes from me. How you got it in the first place is still a mystery to me however...**

**I chose you, Lashana, because you are perfectly balanced. Your life also has not been an easy one, yet you have never strayed from your Path. You are a perfect balance of light and darkness. Even now, with the immense Power of my Chaos within you, you do not fight it, yet accept it as a part of you. **L-Sama looked at the two women and smiled. **That is why you were chosen. Why we decided to help you. You were like a lost part of us.**

Lashana exchanged shocked glances with Telca. "Then...if we're _not_ dead..." she paused and looked at L-Sama, her voice a mere whisper. "We can go back?" 

Gaia smiled. **Even now their hearts call out for their loved ones. **She chuckled and looked at L-Sama. **And to think that ten thousand years ago you wanted to destroy the Universe because there were no more pure souls.**

**You're never going to let up on that, are you?** L-Sama groused. 

_They sound like us!_ Telca grinned and nudged Lashana, who blinked for a moment before understanding dawned. _They're exactly like us! Well...except for that all powerful Goddess thing..._

**We must warn you,** Gaia said, drawing their attention. **Much time has passed since your battle. Things...are not as they once were.**

"How much time?" 

"What happened? Is Remy alright?!" 

**It has been a little over a month. **L-Sama told them, seeing a look of horror pass over their faces. **It took that long for our Powers to safely meld with you.**

**Your 'Remy' is alright, Telca. However....** Gaia paused and sighed. **He has left your dimension. As has your Bonded Lashana. We...we did not realize the implications of keeping you away from your friends for so long. Their grief has consumed them....**

L-Sama nodded in agreement, then tensed. **You two must go! Quickly!**

"What?" the Elf frowned, looking at the portal that opened in front of her. 

**He is about to kill himself! **Gaia gasped. **Hurry!**

"Who?" Telca asked. 

**The one named 'Mewtwo'.**

Lashana lunged for the portal. "_No!_" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

_Is this all I have left? The promise of the end of pain? _The pokemon sighed and glanced down at the knife in his hands, looking at his reflection in the blade of it. _Even then, it will take pain to end pain... But I have nothing now... Nothing...._

He pressed the point of the knife against the inside of his left wrist, watching as blood pooled around the tip before dripping off his arm to the ground. He stared at his own blood for a moment, pausing, uncertain... 

"_No!_" 

~What?~ Mewtwo spun at the cry, looking around the empty backyard of the Palace. _Even my imagination must torment me now...._ He growled and snatched up the knife from where he had accidentally dropped it and rested the blade against his wrist.... 

"'Two!! _DON'T!!_" 

He froze at the call, his eyes widening. _It can't be..._

Arms wrapped around him from behind then, holding him tightly as someone pressed their face between his shoulder blades, their breath coming in ragged gasps, as if they had just run a marathon. He glanced behind him and stared at a head of snow-white hair for a moment, his heart pounding as his brain registered the sight. ~L-Lashana?~ 

"Don't do this, 'Two. Please... please don't...." 

The knife fell from his nerveless fingers, hitting the ground dangerously close to his right foot, but he was too busy spinning around to haul the Elf into a bone-jarring hug to notice. ~You're alive... Praise be, you're alive... Lashana...~ Movement to his left made him raise his tear-filled gaze to look at a smiling Telca. ~Telca... but... How? How can this be?~ 

"It's a long story," Telca murmured. 

It was another few moments before Lashana pulled away and grabbed Mewtwo's shoulders, shaking him roughly as she glared at him. "What were you thinking?! What part of 'live for us' didn't you understand?!" 

He growled and jerked out of her hold. ~Life for you? What's the point? You were all I had in my life. My life and the others. Without you two in our lives we have no reason to live!~ 

Telca gasped and took a startled step back, shocked by the Pokemon's outburst. "Oh my Gods... Lashana..._ What have we done?!_" 

The Elf blinked back tears. "I... I thought... We did this to save them... but we... we..." 

"...what have we done?" Telca sunk to her knees, staring at the ground in horror. "We... we didn't have a choice right? _Right?!_ There was no other way.... I thought we were saving them...." 

Lashana looked from Telca to Mewtwo, the realization of what the Harem had gone through plainly registering on her face. "I...I'm sorry... I... we _had _to save you..." 

The Pokemon sighed and pulled her into his arms again, holding her tightly as she buried her face against his chest and dried her tears on his fur. ~Sometimes the solution causes more pain than the problem...~ 

That got a reaction. 

Telca surged to her feet, silver-lined white light swirling around her. "We were _not_ going to stand by and watch that Demon kill you all! What's the matter with you?! We've had to stand by when you Guys defend us and put your lives on the line! So what, only you're allowed to do the dangerous stuff? Let the females stay out of the fights?!" 

~N-no. I didn't mean-~ 

"Yes you did," Lashana whispered, looking up at him. "Don't you understand? You, Black, Remy... the entire Harem. You mean more to us than our own lives, 'Two. Did you ever think that maybe if we didn't have you lot in our lives that we'd have nothing to live for either?" She pulled out of his hold and walked over to Telca, leaving him to stare at her in surprise as her new Powers made her hair shimmer like golden fire. "We have to find the others, Telca." 

"Yeah... yeah okay. What about him though?" 

The Elf turned and looked at Mewtwo, golden sparks glowing in her dark blue eyes. "What will it be, 'Two? Life or death?" 

He blinked and stared at the two sorceresses. They had _changed_ somehow. They had new powers, yes. But something felt...off. 

**You idiot.**

~What?!~ Mewtwo growled and looked around for the source of the voice, not seeing Lashana and Telca's exasperated looks. ~Who said that?~ 

**They fought against impossible odds and death...and you think that they don't care about you? Were you dropped on your head as a babe? Can you not see that they feel your pain as their own?**

"Gaia," Lashana groaned, "I thought Gods weren't supposed to interfere in the affairs of mortals." 

**Well, that's true. But you and Telca aren't exactly 'mortal' anymore.**

"You can explain that to us later. I have to find Remy," Telca interrupted, looking at Mewtwo pleadingly. "Where's the Harem?" 

Still a little taken aback by the voice of what Lashana called a God, he blinked a few times before his mind processed the question. "Gone. Including your dragons Lashana. Only Beast and Xellos stayed behind. Oh, of course Mischief is here as well, Telca. Beast has been looking after her." 

Lashana exchanged glances with Telca and sighed. "Well...Let's go see Beast, get some stuff together and go get our Guys back." 

"Damn straight."   
  



	3. A Bond Divided

  
_Disclaimer: The Harem, Lashana, Telca and almost everything else doesn't belong to us. The storyline is ours, however, so no taking of our ideas please._

_At this point, I'd like to say thanks to all who reviewed and emailed me about the 'Final Battle' and 'I Would Die For You' fics. I know they were sad, that was the point, but it's the greatest achievement for a writer to manage to bring out such emotions in their readers. Many thanks.___

_For those of you who were afraid that this was The End *grins* These fics are the only things that keep Telca an I relatively sane, nothing short of armageddon would force us to stop the insanity or give up our Harems. Sometimes the thoughts of our Harems are the only things that get us through the day.___

_Telca: Actually if armageddon comes in my lifetime I plan on going with my Remy birthday card and Gambit comics clutched to my chest.___

_Ditto. Those tapes with the Blackwargreymon Saga are goin' with me.___

_--Lashana_   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A Bond Divided   


"Oh my stars and garters... It can't be!" 

Telca smiled weakly. "Hey Beast." 

One never would have thought that he could move so quickly. In one bound, he was across his lab and scooping the sorceress into a bear hug, sighing in relief when she returned the embrace. "My dear...what happened? We thought you were-" 

"We were." 

He glanced behind him and stared at the Elf for a brief moment before sighing and lowering his face into Telca's hair. "How can this be?" 

"It's a long story Blue. Something that we only want to tell once..." Telca paused and shook her head. "We didn't know things would get this bad. We never thought that the others would..." 

"Lashana-chan!!" 

"What the-" the Elf turned in time to see Xellos' grin before he glomped her. "Ack! Get off!" 

"You're alive!!" 

Telca glanced at Lashana. Was it her...or did he sound...relieved? 

Xellos smiled at the Elf, eyes fully open, then he blinked at her curiously. "Lashana-chan? What happened to your aura?" 

"Don't call me that. And L-Sama happened to it." She sighed and gently pulled away from him. In some perverted way she had missed him. But damned if she was going to admit it. "Uh...why are you staring at me like that?" 

"Y-ou're....the Chaos Knight!" 

She blinked. "Yeah..." she muttered, staring in shock when he dropped down onto one knee and bowed to her. "Okaaaay. This is new." 

Telca turned in Beasts arms and grinned. "Does this mean he has to do whatever you say?" 

"I dunno? Does it, Xel?" 

He grimaced and nodded. 

"Kewl. I'll torture you later. Right now I have to go get changed and hunt down my Harem," Lashana said as she walked past Xellos and jumped into a portal. 

Telca nodded and glanced at Beast. "You got any interdimensional cel phones lying around?" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Catch!" 

Lashana glanced up and yelped as she caught the cel phone that had been flung her way. "Geez, Telca. I just walked into the room, give me some warning next time!" 

"I did," the sorceress grumbled as tugged her green tank top into place, fixed the belt around the waist of her black jeans. That done, she put her own cel phone into a hidden pocket in her duster. In actuality it was one of Remy's dusters, it had his scent on it. "Call me when you find Blacky." 

"Ditto for you and Remy," Lashana said as she shoved the cel phone into one of the outer pocket of her black mid-thigh leather jacket. She had rolled the sleeves up to her elbows and put on a basic outfit of black hiking boots, blue jeans frayed at the knees and a dark blue tank top. 

"'Kay. I'm off to New Orleans. I'll see ya later!" Telca said, waving as she opened a portal and leapt through. 

~Lashana...~ 

The Elf turned at the call and gazed over at Mewtwo, seconds away from opening her own portal and starting her own search. "Yeah, 'Two?" 

He walked over to her and stood in front of her for a moment, staring down into her eyes before he hugged her gently. ~I'm sorry,~ he murmured, his tail curling around her waist. ~I missed you.~ 

"Missed you too you big psycho," she smiled, returning the embrace before gently pulling away, reaching down to remove his tail from her waist. "Telca an I are gonna round up the others. You gonna be okay for a few hours?" 

~Yes. Yes... As long as you come back.~ 

She winked and rose a hand, opening a golden portal. "Deal." 

~Then I suggest you head for that lake you and the others went to,~ he smiled, seeing her curious look. ~Get going.~ 

"Uh...yeah. Thanks," she called, waving as she walked into the portal. She emerged in the middle of a clearing off the side of a dirt path...exactly where she and the others had come camping oh so long ago. _Why did 'Two say I should come here...there's nothing... Oh. My. Gods... Black..._ Her gaze had been sweeping over the shoreline of the nearby lake when she had spotted him on the dock, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Black...." 

The reaction was immediate and not at all what she was expecting. 

He whirled and lunged at her, the blades on his right gauntlet aimed at her head. She screamed and dropped to the ground, rolling to the side and scrambling out of the way of a vicious kick. "Black! What are you doing?!" 

"You can't be her! She's _dead!_" he roared, lunging at her again. 

_Oh I'm gonna die..._ Lashana rose her arms in a weak attempt to fend him off and blinked when the blades on his gauntlets suddenly stopped in mid air. She blinked and looked at her arms, sighing in relief when she saw that the black spines had re-emerged from her arms and deflected the attack. _Okaaay. So these things are stronger than Digichrome.. I can handle that. _"Black. It's _me!_" 

"My Bonded is _dead._" he spat, hatred in his eyes. "I don't know what you are, but you'll pay for impersonating her!" 

As he started to gather energy for a full-power Terra Destroyer, she closed her eyes and screamed. "You have a scar on your left inner thigh! You got it when you accidentally startled me while I was writing and I stabbed you with my pen! We laughed about it later because I had been using glow-in-the-dark ink and it looked really funky when we turned out the light that night!" 

He froze, eyes widening. "H-how did you?" 

"Black, it's _me!_" she paused and looked at the curved spines that had emerged from her arms. "Well... I've got a few new tricks, but it's me!" 

"It can't be..." 

Her mind scrambled for something that only the two of them would know. Something that would convince him... "When we were in Hell, just before Telca an I took on the Demon Highlord, you saw me transform, remember?" She closed her eyes and called on the Chaos, hearing his gasp as her Avatar form took over, the Power flowing though her veins like wildfire as she opened her now golden eyes to look at him sadly. "And I said 'I will always love you, my Blackwargreymon'. And I took the Ultima power from you. Remember? Please...please tell me that you remember that." 

He obviously did, for the sphere of energy vanished from his hands as he collapsed to his knees, still staring at her as she reverted to her Elven form. "....Lashana?" 

"Yes. It's me," she whispered brokenly, slowly stepping forward. She nearly broke down when he tossed his gauntlets aside and threw himself at her, his arms wrapping around her as he buried his face in her hair and started sobbing uncontrolably. "Oh my gods... Black... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...." 

"I thought I had lost you," he choked out in between sobs. "Why? Why did you..." 

She rose her hands to cup his jaw and gently forced him to raise his head to meet her gaze. "Because I love you. My life would mean nothing if I didn't have you. I should have told you that so long ago... I guess I was afraid that you didn't want something so deep..." 

He stared at her for a long moment before growling and shoving her away, reaching up to wipe at his tears angrily. "You love me? You love me, yet you made me watch you die?! Do you have any idea what it's been like this past month?! _Do you!?_" 

Lashana stepped back, frightened by the rage in his voice. "I-" 

"You have _no right!_ I thought you were dead!! You can't just come back thinking that everything's going to be alright!!" he roared, fangs bared. He glared at her a moment longer, then spun around and snatched his gauntlets off the ground, putting them on angrily. "Get out of my sight." 

"_What?!_ Black!" 

"Don't call me that!" he yelled, spinning around and leveling the blades at her throat. "My Bonded died back in that cave." 

She stared at him as he turned and stalked away, silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees, trembling. A whimper escaped her lips, vaguely sounding like 'I love you' before she threw her head back and _screamed_. 


	4. Reunions and realizations

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   


Reunions and realizations   


Telca grumbled to herself as she stomped through a thick patch of underbrush. She knew Remy would have come back to New Orleans. What annoyed her was that she knew he'd have headed for the remote abandoned plantation that he and his fellow Guild had used a few years back. Why it had to be in the middle of some half-swampland she had _no idea._ But if it meant that she'd be able to see her Remy again.... 

"Ow! Dammit. Stupid rock..." She reached up and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "I should have brought a machete... _REMY! Remy! You out here?!_" Ducking under a low hanging branch of some tree, she shoved a few vines aside and grinned when she saw the building. It looked half taken over by the surrounding vegetation, but it was the place. _Please be in there... please..._ "Remy?" 

The steps creaked loudly as she climbed them, shattering the quiet of the swamp, and she winced at the sound. _Well... people know I'm here by now... might as well go with the flow..._ "Remy LeBeau! You're not going to leave me out in this - Ow! Bedamned mosquitos! I am not a walking buffet!" 

"_Chere?!_" 

She blinked at the incredulous whisper and turned to look at the now open front door, tears coming to her eyes when she saw her Cajun standing in the doorway. "Remy!" She launched herself at him, nearly bowling him over as she threw her arms around him and buried her face against his chest crying freely. "You're okay...you're okay..." 

Remy stared down at the woman that was holding onto him in shock. The thought that he had accidentally drugged himself with something flitted through his mind, at least until she rose her head and gaze up at him with those deep purple eyes that he loved to stare into so much. "Chere... It _is_ you!" He wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her tight against him, crushing his mouth onto hers in a desperate kiss before he rose his head to look into her eyes again. "Chere...how did dis hapen? We thought you an de Elf...." 

"It's a long, long story. Lashana and I only want to tell it once. That's why we're trying to round up the Harem again," Telca said, reaching up to run the fingers of her right hand through his tousled hair, then down to trace his stubbled cheek. "I never told you... I should have..." 

"Quoi chere?" 

"I love you, Remy." 

He smiled and rose a hand to caress her cheek. "Ah, but chere, you tell dat to dis theif when he lying on dat rock." 

"Yeah...well I wanted you to be fully conscious when I made it clear, is all," she smirked as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. "Now shut up and kiss me, will you?" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Lashana rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand as she stumbled along the dirt path, feeling as if she wanted to crawl into a deep hole and never come back out. 

**Oh, child. Everything will be alright...**

"I'm not a child," she muttered raggedly, her voice harsh from the scream she had loosed. "An nothing will be alright." 

**Compared to my everlasting age, you are a child. **The voice of L-Sama was accompanied by a slight breeze that lifted her hair off her shoulders. **I will speak with him, my Knight. All will be well.**

"What? Hey, wait!" She frowned when the omnipotent presence pulled away and debated trying to call L-Sama back for a moment. _No... I can't handle another confrontation with Black..._ Another portal appeared in front of her her, and she glanced back at the lake a final time before stepping into it. _I'll go round up Kang, then call Telca. I ought to be a bit more stable by then... of course that's all depending on whether he went where I think he went...._

The portal dumped her on a hard dirt ground, and she coughed at the smoke that assaulted her as she looked around. She had apparently emerged in the middle of a battle. _Of course it's a battle. This is Krynn, there's ALWAYS a battle going on here...._

A low growl from behind her made her spin around to come face to chest with a huge Sivak draconian, and a squeak of surprise escaped her throat as she frantically backed away. "Uh...hi? Whoa!" She ducked a sword slash and rose her right arm, the curved spines tearing out of her arm in time to deflect the second attack. _Why is everyone trying to kill me today?! Don't they know how hard it was to beat death the first time?!_

Unfortunately, she had been so busy trying to avoid the Sivak, that she never saw the Baaz come up behind her and slam the hilt of his sword into her head. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Owww...." _What hit me? Oh my aching head... why is all the blood rushing to my head, anyway?_ She grimaced and forced her eyes open, blinking numerous times when she realized that she was hanging upside down five feet off the ground. _Oh, yeah. This is good...._ She wriggled around, trying to either free her hands from the tight ropes, or free her feet so she could hit the ground and start running. 

"Stop movin' you pointy-eared bitch!" 

A growl escaped her as she twisted to glare at the Bozak draconian that was addressing her. "You so better hope I don't get out of here!!" she snarled, fangs bared. She used a bit of the Chaos to make her eyes glow gold and grinned ferally when the draconian gasped and backed away. _Plan B...._ "GET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU IDJIT DRACOS!!!!"_ ....if you can't threaten them, deafen them. _"KANG!!! GET ME DO--mrpft!" The last was due to the gag that had just been shoved into her mouth. 

"That ought to shut her up," the Bozak commented to a startled Baaz. 

"But...didn't she say the Commander's name?" 

The Bozak blinked. "You actually understood all that screeching?" 

"Well...it _sounded_ like the Commander's name..." 

_They could have at least used a clean cloth!! Oh gods... I will not throw up, I will not throw up..._

"What's going on over here?!" 

"Sub Commander Slith!" The Baaz and Bozak snapped to attention, saluting before the Bozak continued. "Sorry, Sir. The prisoner was being uncooperative." 

Lashana screamed out a few choice words into the gag at that and struggled at the ropes, glaring at the draconians angrily. 

Slith blinked down at the Elf for a moment before paling. "By the Dark Queen..." He spun around and cupped his hands around his mouth. "SIR!! COMMANDER!!" 

_Thank you L-Sama!_

"What is it Slith? Fulkth was telling me about the repairs to--" 

She twisted and managed to get her hair out of her face long enough to send a frantic look at Kang before something in her shoulder protested at the movement, making her yelp as she lost what little mobility she had. _Owowowowow!!_

"Cut her loose! _Now!_" 

"But Sir-" 

"You heard the Commander! Oh, bugger off, I'll do it myself. Dismissed!!" 

_Owowow-_ Her mental yelps were cut off by her very audible shriek as the ropes that were holding her off the ground were sliced through, sending her crashing to the dirt in an unceremonious heap. Once her hands were free, she reached up and ripped the gag out of her mouth, trying not to gag when she saw how filthy it really was. _Oh the hell with this..._ "I'm gonna hurl..." She grabbed a nearby bucket and introduced it to the meager meal she had eaten at the Palace before leaving. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Ooooh.... I shouldn't have eaten those chips....." Lashana groaned where she was sitting at a table in what she assumed was Kang' quarters. There was a guard outside, making sure that she wouldn't leave and that no one would come after her, and someone had brought her some water to drink five minutes ago. _Figures. Chaos can destroy an entire Universe, but it can't do dick-shit all about nausea...._

The sound of the door opening made her raise her head off her arms and peer through her bangs at a draconian. Removal of her bangs from her eyes told her that the draconian was Kang. "Hi...." she murmured weakly, hoping that this meeting wouldn't repeat the one she had had with Blackwargreymon. 

"By the Gods..." Kang whispered, closing the door behind him as he walked into the room and moved over to her. "Lashana?" 

"Know anyone else who would let themselves be captured and hung upside down for who knows how long without butchering people when they got loose?" 

He growled softly and hauled her off the chair and onto her feet, staring down at her for a moment before slowly rising a hand to her hair, running his talons through the locks as he inhaled a breath of her scent. He groaned seconds later, throwing his arms and wings around her and crushing her to him in a powerful hug. "It is you... Lashana..." 

She closed her eyes and clung to him, feeling her eyes water as he gently nuzzled at the side of her neck. _I will not cry... I will not cry..._

"What happened to you?" the draconian asked as he pushed her away just enough to meet her gaze, frowning at the tears he saw there. "How-?" 

"It's a long story. Telca an I are trying to round up the Harem again so that we only have to tell it once..." she wiped at her eyes and sighed. "Will you come back with me?" 

"You know I will," he murmured, touching her cheek lightly. "Though I'm surprised to see that Blacky's not with you..." he trailed off as her eyes filled up with tears again, and growled softly. "What happened?" 

"It's nothing. I didn't come here to dump on you," she said as she tried to pull away. "We should get going. We have to go get Mewtwo at the Palace, then start tracking the others down." 

"Lashana." Kang sighed and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Look, I'm not saying that I understand all that's happened.... But let me help you. I just can't believe that you've come out of this unscathed, no matter how hard to try to hide it." 

She shuddered and glanced away. "I'll be alright," she whispered. "I just...." She trailed off and leaned against him, closing her eyes as she slid her arms around his middle and clung to him. "I just wanted things to go back to normal....why is that so hard?!" 

"Things can't ever go back to normal," he told her. "Your deaths made us realize how much we had come to care about you. How much we needed you in our lives. The pain of that loss won't ever go away, Lashana." 

"Maybe I should just leave all of you alone....go back to my folks place.... get a job at the explosives plant." 

He looked down at her in shock. "You can't be serious! You in an explosives plant? Gods, I can see the newpaper headlines now..." When that didn't elict the response he had been going for, he sighed heavily and hugged her again. "Is that what you really want? To pretend that the Harem never existed?" 

"....no. But maybe what I want doesn't matter anymore," she muttered mororsely. 

_Oh the hell with it._ "It matters to me, Lashana," he growled, drawing her surprised gaze. "You matter to me. If you think that I'm going to let you give up like this, you're wrong. I don't think you came back from the dead just to give everything you care about up. Right?" When she nodded, he smiled and wiped her tears off her cheeks. "Right... Open that portal of yours and let's go get Mewtwo. I think that Zelgadis went back to his dimension, he shouldn't be too hard to find." 

The Elf smiled at him and hopped up to throw her arms around his neck, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling away. "Thank you." 

_She keeps getting under my scales like this an I may just fight Blacky for her._ "No problem," Kang rumbled. "None what so ever." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

**You are a stupid, stupid male.**

Blackwargreymon froze in mid step and growled. "Who's there?!" he yelled, frowning when an insubstantial image of a golden haired women appeared in front of him. "Who the hell are you?" 

**I am the one who granted your Bonded's wish.**

"Her...wish?" 

**The wish to have the Power to save you. You truly do not realize what you are in danger of losing, do you? She sacrificed her very _soul_ for you. Does that mean nothing to you?**

He frowned and turned away. "My Bonded died a month ago." 

**Your Bonded is very much alive! I should know! I resurrected her! She is my Chaos Knight. My Avatar. All because of her pure hearted wish of wanting you to live! And how do you repay her? By attacking her!**

"Chaos...." he glanced at the woman. "L-Sama?" 

**You see any other Chaos Goddess trying to talk some sense into you? If she didn't still love you I swear that I would tear you apart!**

_She still.... Oh My God. What have I done...._ "That was really..." 

L-Sama nodded in approval as tears gathered in his eyes. **You are the only reason that she continues to cling to this life. And we both know that she is the only reason that you cling to it as well.**

He swallowed thickly and looked at the Goddess. "Is it too late?" 

She smiled. **The past cannot be changed, Blackwargreymon. But perhaps, if you hurry, you can save your future.**


	5. Friends of Humanity vs Telca....and a pl...

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   


Friends of Humanity vs Telca....and a plastered Immortal   
  


"I can't believe that Kurt let himself be captured by those stupid Friends of Humanity!" Telca groused as she and Remy cut through an alleyway. "He can _teleport_ for Goddess sake!" 

They had portaled here, to Brooklyn, half an hour ago, and it had taken them almost as long to pry the information out of the various locals. From what they had learned, Nightcrawler's image inducer had failed smack dab in the middle of a parade. Not a good place for him to be. What was worse what that those blasted Mutant Hating idiots in the FoH had gotten to him first. There was no telling what they were going to do to him! 

"Chere, dis way," Remy said, tugging on her sleeve to get her attention as he headed for an old rusted door. 

"You sure this is it?" 

Remy winked at her. "Trust dis theif, chere. He knows what he's doin'," he assured her as he reached out to grab the edge of the duster she was wearing and slipping his hand inside to grab a lock-picking set he carried in all of his dusters. "One day, Remy teach you how to pick locks." 

"Kewl." 

He chuckled and knelt to be even with the door handle. "Keep watch." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Mewtwo blinked as a golden portal opened in front of him and stepped back as Lashana and Kang emerged from it. ~I thought you were going to get Blackwargreymon?~ 

"I was. He... He's not coming," she murmured, avoiding his gaze as she went over to the cupboard and pulled out a package of soda crackers. 

"What do you mean 'he's not coming'?" Kang frowned. _This explains a hell of a lot about why she's close to breaking down. Blacky, what the fuck were you thinking?!_

"I mean he's not coming. He doesn't want anything to do with me," Lashana said, a little too harshly. When she saw them glance away, she sighed and set the package of crackers on the counter. "Sorry. Look, let's just go and find Zelgadis, alright? 'Two? You wanna come along?" 

~Of course. But-- ~ 

"Good. Let's go." 

Kang frowned and reached out to grab her arm as she tried to walk past him. "Lashana..." 

"Kang... I know you want to help. But you can't, okay? To you, it's been a month. To Telca an I, it seemed like less than an hour. I came back to find that one of my best friends was going to kill himself, that everyone else has left and that my own Soul-Bonded can't even stand to look at me." She bowed her head slightly, her bangs hiding her eyes. "I am holding on to what little composure I have by a mere thread. If you want to help, then let go of me....please." 

He sighed and released her, watching her walk out onto the deck and into the golden portal that appeared in front of her. "Less than an hour...." 

~Come on,~ Mewtwo murmured as he headed after the Elf. ~She needs us more than she'd like to admit.~ 

"Yeah. I'm coming." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Dere!" Remy grinned as the lock gave a telltale 'click', signifying that he had successfully picked it. He rose from the ground and slowly opened the door, taking a moment to make sure it was safe before speaking again. "Quickly chere." 

Telca nodded and darted past him, frowning when Remy closed the door behind them, plunging them into total darkness. "Well isn't this just peachy?" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"ZELGADIS!!!" 

Mewtwo winced as Lashana loosed another yell and looked at her. ~I don't think that's going to work.~ 

"Besides. You have to do it like this," Kang grinned. "**_ZELGADIS!!!_**" 

~Oh thank you very much, Kang. I think I just lost a large percentage of my hearing.~ 

Lashana frowned. "What?! Speak up! I can't hear you over the ringing!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"This is so gross. Don't evil cult groups ever clean?!" Telca hissed as she picked her way over a pile of moldy newspapers, a sphere of white light hovering above her and Remy. She had discovered that as the need arose, new spells would appear in her mind. _Handy trick that. Saves me from memorizing them..._ _Now...if I were a racist psychopathic, where would I put a young mutant?_

"Chere!" Remy called in a bare whisper, gesturing for her to join him as he edged closer to a partially opened door. "Look. Dey have him on display." He pointed to the caged teen that was on the stage in front of a filled auditorium of Friends of Humanity members. "Look like dey be in de middle of a meeting or somethin'." 

"Well crap. That means we need a plan," Telca muttered, looking around them for a moment before her gaze settled on the sphere of light that was hovering above them, a grin spreading over her lips as an idea took hold. "This is what we're gonna do..." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Give us all yer money!" 

~Kang? It's your turn. I took the last batch,~ Mewtwo said as another group of bandits leap out of the bushes. It amazed him that so many bandit's could hide in one forest and not notice each other. 

"Fine, fine. _FIREBALL!_" 

"This is pitiful. I knew the Slayers dimension was big on bandits, but this is getting ridiculous," Lashana sighed, shaking her head sadly as she looked at all the singed people around them. 

"Well....worse comes to worse... we're making it safer for the general populous," Kang shrugged. 

"I suppose..." 

"Give us all yer money!" 

~Oh for the love of....~ 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"What do we want?" 

"No more Mutants!!" 

"And how are we gonna get it!" 

"Kill them all!!" 

"Remy want to have a word wit dat man after dis..." the Cajun growled as he and Telca silently made their way across the catwalk above the stage. 

"You take him. I get the audience," she grumbled angrily. "Okay. We're far enough out. You ready?" 

"Always chere," he grinned, winking at her. 

She blushed at the double meaning of _that_ and turned to look down at the caged teen below. _Let's see what these Powers can do._ Her eyes bright with determination, she held her hands out at waist level, palms up, and took a breath to steel herself before she let the Magick guide her. "_Mighty Ones of the East. Powers of Air. I summon thee, stir, and call ye to aid me now in my time of need!_" She felt the Elemental Power flow through her, and as if in a dream, drew a symbol in the air in front of her, bending the Power into what she needed. _Moment of truth..._

It worked perfectly. 

One moment there was nothing, the next, a full tornado appeared around the cage. Panic ensued, half the audience running for their lives, the other trying to reach the stage. "Remy?" 

"Got it, chere," he smiled as he aimed and let half a dozen kinetically charged cards fly, grinning when they exploded against the edge of the stage, driving the audience back. 

Telca frowned in concentration and slowly rose her hands, the tornado around the cage growing in intensity as it the cage within it's core began to rise off the stage. _Wow. All this an I'm not even the least tired! Kewl!_ By the time she had risen her hands above her head, the cage was level with the catwalk, and a shocked Nightcrawler was gaping at them. 

"Mein Gott! _Telca?!_" 

"Yuppers. S'my name. Don't wear it out!" she chuckled as Remy used a few well charged cards to break the cage open, helping the teen out and onto the catwalk. Once Kurt was safe, she glared down at the audience below them. "You picked on the wrong Fuzzy Elf!" Three sharp gestures in the air later, the tornado had dropped the cage into the middle of the auditorium and had turned into a full fledged hail-storm, complete with lightning and gale force winds. 

Nightcrawler stared at Telca, eyes widening when he saw a streak of silver appear in her hair. "T-Telca?" 

She blinked and turned to look at him. "Yeah, Kurt. It's me," she smiled, wrapping an arm around him when he threw himself at her and buried his face against her shoulder. "I missed you too, Fuzzy. I missed you too." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Lashana yawned as she, Kang and Mewtwo continued walking down a road. They had been walking _forever_, and she wanted nothing more than to leap into the air and simply scout Zelgadis out from the air. But she was reluctant to leave the two males behind. In this dimension, _anything _could happen. 

That fact was proven seconds later as a group of Lesser Mazoku appeared out of thin air and surrounded them. 

"Goddammit," Kang growled. "I'm getting low on energy here Lashana." 

"No prob," she grinned. "These guys are mine." 

~All of them?!~ Mewtwo frowned, looking around at the dozen freakish monsters. 

"I have to get my stress level down," she said as she closed her eyes and called on the Chaos. 

Both Kang and Mewtwo leapt back in shock as the transformation took hold. Before them stood not their Elf, but an Avatar of the Lord of Nightmares. Eyelids rose to reveal golden eyes with black slitted pupils, her hair changing to the purest gold as black spines grew out of the woman's arms, curving backwards towards her elbows. Nails turned black and lengthened into immaculate talons, already pointed ears becoming more pronounced as her bared fangs grew sharper. 

~My God....~ Mewtwo breathed as he stared at Lashana. ~W-what happened to her?!~ 

"Nevermind her! What's with them?!" Kang growled, pointing to the Lesser Mazoku that were slowly backing away from her, heads bowed in submission as they moved aside, then vanished as quickly as they had appeared. 

"Dammit," the woman grumbled, her now rich voice echoing on the winds. "All that and they went and buggered off! Bastards...." 

"L-Lashana?!" 

She blinked and half-turned to look at the duo. "Yeah?" 

~What the hell happened to you?!~ 

Lashana sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had reverted to her natural form. "...maybe you ought to sit down." As both Males dropped to the ground where they stood, she took a deep breath to prepare herself for their reaction, then stated: "I'm the Avatar to the Lord of Nightmares." 

Crickets chirped. 

~.....you're....a Goddess'...Avatar?!~ 

"The..._THE_ Goddess of Chaos' Avatar?!" 

"Basically, yes." 

"I have to sit down." 

"Kang. You _are_ sitting down." 

~Am I?~ 

"Oh for the flamin' love of...." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Y'know, I'm starting to get kinda worried about Lashana. She was supposed to call me when she found Blacky," Telca mused as she and the two males stepped out of a portal and into a quiet parking lot. "Here, Kurt. Let me see that bedamned watch thingy." 

"You're not gonna break it, right?" he asked as his gaze darted around them nervously, afraid that he'd get jumped by a psycho group of people again. 

"Nah. My watch used to do this all the time," she said as she grabbed the strap and slammed the entire thing against her knee. "There. Try it now." 

"I don't believe it," Remy muttered as the teen warily put the watch on and activated it, blue fur automatically being replaced with the image of human skin. 

"Kewl! Thanks Telca!" 

"No prob." 

"Chere, over dere. Dere's a restaurant we can stop at." 

"Remy, that's a _bar_." 

"Oui." 

"Hello? Minor among us?" 

"Oh he be okay as long as he doesn't order any of de drinks." 

"Famous last words...." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Duncan hiccuped again, this time in the middle of draining his tenth beer, a grimace spreading over his face as half the bottle ended up pouring down onto his lap. He slammed the almost empty bottle onto the table, not even realizing that he had in actuality lain it on it's side, and grabbed a new bottle, belching loudly. He couldn't remember how long he had been in this bar, hell, at the moment he couldn't even remember his own name. But that was what he wanted...to stop remembering. 

"What the hell?!" 

The voice tugged at something within him, and he lolled his head back on his shoulders to peer up at the women that was staring at him in shock. There was something about this woman...something _familiar._ "..S'telca? Naw....must'be a hallucinational...." his voice slurred, his mind swimming in an alcohol induced fog. "She's dead....She an Lashshana....dead..." 

He lurched forward and planted his elbows on the table, pointing at the woman with his new beer bottle. "Didja know 'er? She was one n'a mah bestesf friends..." He took a swig of his drink, smiling when it didn't go down his shirt, then pulled the bottle back to look at it thoughtfully. "I 'member... I useta play tricks s'on 'er. S'was funny. Replacicated....replacated....switched her junk shnacks wit that health food stuff... awful sthuff that...." He frowned and took another drink of his beer, trying to get his voice to work properly. "There was once I busted one o' dose vases o' hers. I glued it back tagether an blameded Xellossss. An then there was tha time I shrunked her laundry befer one n'a her dates wit that Cajun just to see 'er freak out...." He sighed heavily and leaned back in his booth, lowering his gaze to the table top. "Ah wish she was 'ere. Even if she punch'd me fer what I did.... Ah wish she was 'ere...." 

"Wish granted!!" 

_WHACK!!_

"Uh, chere.... I think you broke his nose." 

"Good!! I loved that vase!!" 

Duncan groaned from his new position on the floor and slowly rolled over, one hand clutching at his bleeding nose as he rose his gaze to the one who had hit him, ready to deliever one of his own punches before the sight managed to sneak it's way past the alcohol and into the tiny part of his mind that wasn't plastered. "_TELCA?!_"   
  
  
  



	6. Finally found Zelgadis....now what?

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   
__ __

Finally found Zelgadis....now what?   
__

"This is going to take forever," Lashana muttered under her breath as she and Kang shoved their way through a crowded Market. It was just the two of them since Mewtwo had actively refused to enter the town, though he was keeping telepathic 'tabs' on them. "Where's that Magick Shop that Fish-Selling Guy told us about?" 

"Over there," Kang pointed, able to see over everyone's heads. There were perks to being seven feet tall. He growled as someone kicked at his tail and sent a nasty glare in the direction of a group of villagers that were gesturing at him and Lashana. "I hate this." 

"Which is why I appreciate you doing this," she said as she walked behind him, letting him clear a path for her. "Besides, even if I am the Chaos Knight, there is no way that I'm stupid enough to come here alone. Especially since that guy is looking at me like I'm a fresh piece of meat....ew...." 

Kang followed her gaze and extended his left wing, blocking her from the view of the villager and baring his fangs when the man dared to glare at him in annoyance. He reached back and took Lashana's right arm, gently but firmly guiding her over to the threshold of the shop. "Go ahead. I'll stay out here." 

"Don't kill any of the villagers now," she grinned as she ducked inside. 

He chuckled and leaned back against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms over his chest as he let his gaze scan over the huge crowd. _Even if she had wanted to come here alone, I don't think I would have let her,_ he mused to himself as he spotted a group of bandits nearby. His tail lashed from side to side as he glanced at the door, frowning at how long she was taking. Figuring that she was probably taking the time to look around first, he sighed and shifted so that he could fan himself with his wings, cooling himself. _I still can't believe she's an Avatar... And Blacky, what was he thinking?!_

~I believe that he's still consumed by his grief. Seeing Lashana after an entire month of torture probably did not aid him. His grief and anger have nowhere to go, he vented it on the only person that he believes is to blame,~ Mewtwo said in his mind. 

_Blame? But she-_

~You were angry at her too, remember?~ 

_Well yeah...but... _He shifted again, tail thumping against the wall. _But I've lost people before. I know how to deal with the pain._

~He does not.~ 

Kang rumbled softly, his gaze fixed on the ground in front of him. The Pokemon's logic made sense. But still, he had seen the agony in the Elf's eyes... 

A gentle touch at his elbow made him raise his gaze to look at the object of his thoughts, blinking at her for a moment before pushing away from the wall. "Anything?" 

"Yeah. Apparently a blue skinned demon came here a day ago. Rumor has it that he's staying in some nearby ruins," she told him, raising an arm to point west. "They're just outside the town limits." 

"Good. Then we can get the hell out of here," the draconian growled, eyeing the group of bandits that was gathered together and looking in their direction. "Shit. Mewtwo, get over here." 

~This had better be good,~ the Pokemon grumbled as he teleported next to them. ~You know I hate being in crowded cities.~ 

"Get her out of here," Kang hissed, shoving Lashana towards him as the bandits started pushing their way through the crowd to get to them. 

"Hey! I am not some helpless female!" she protested, her breath catching in her throat when the draconian turned to glare at her. 

"Just once, will you not argue? Haven't you noticed that everyone's been practically ignoring me? Everyone's really damned interested in you, Lashana. And judging by the look of those bandits, it's nothing good. Now, please. Go with Mewtwo." 

The Elf glanced around, wincing when she saw that he was right. "We'll meet at the ruins, right?" 

"I've got nowhere better to be," he smirked as Mewtwo grabbed her arm and started pulling her away. 

~Hold on,~ Mewtwo said urgently, bodily throwing her onto his back and them breaking out into a full run. 

_Holy shit!_ Lashana threw her arms around his shoulders and held on for dear life, her stomach bottoming out as he crouched and leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building. _'Two...did you lose weight?_

~Maybe. I haven't been eating lately,~ he admitted as he started leaping from rooftop to rooftop, heading west. ~I can see the ruins.~ 

She sighed and rested her forehead against his right shoulder, closing her eyes wearily. "I thought we were doing the right thing..." she murmured, her voice a ragged whisper. "Now I don't know which is worse.... What the Demon Highlord did to you...or what Telca and I did...." 

Mewtwo waited until they had reached the ruins before glancing back at her. ~If you had the chance, would you change what you did? Knowing what would happen?~ 

"....I don't know anymore," she sighed, warily raising her head from his shoulder when she heard an angry growl from behind them. "Wha... Kang? How'd you get here so fast?" 

"I ran," he snapped as he stalked over to her and firmly pulled her away from Mewtwo, grabbing her shoulders once she was standing in front of him. "You have _got_ to stop this. What happened, happened. You can't change it. What you and Telca did... Yes it hurt. It hurt a lot. But in the long run you still saved us. You did what you knew you had to do. Some of the gang still haven't realized that yet, but they will. They left because they couldn't deal with their own grief, their own guilt that they couldn't prevent what happened. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's. Not. Your. Fault." 

"But Black--" 

"Is an idiot. But he'll come to his senses... Even if I have to go pound them into him." 

~I'll hold him down.~ 

Lashana glanced back at the Pokemon, blinking when she saw that, like Kang, he was deadly serious. "Guys..." 

"C'mon," Kang murmured, resting a hand against the small of her back as he ushered her towards the ruins of what used to be a part of the town. "Let's find Zelgadis and go regroup with Telca." 

"Okay...." 

"Good. _Zelgadis!!_" 

~I wish you'd warn us before you did that,~ Mewtwo winced. 

"Sorry." Kang smirked at the Pokemon before cupping his hands to his mouth. "Yo Rocky!" 

There was a faint yell of : "Don't call me Rocky!" before a blue blur of demon speeding chimera practically erupted from the ruins. 

Lashana took a step back towards Mewtwo in surprise as Zelgadis headed straight for her, then blinked as he skidded to a stop inches away from her, his sapphire eyes registering his immense shock. When he didn't say anything in lieu of staring at her, she rose a hand and wiggled her fingers at him. "Hey Zel." 

The sound of her voice snapped him out of his catatonic state. "You're alive!!" 

"Ack!" She gasped as he gave her a rib crushing hug, his arms firmly locked around her as he held her close. "Zel... Lashana.... need.... air!" 

He yelped and released her, reaching out to steady her when she swayed slightly. "Sorry! Sorry! What happened?! We thought you were--" A streak of gold in her hair reflected the sunlight then, and he frowned as he reached out to touch it. "What..." 

"It's a long story. Telca an I are trying to track y'all down so we can tell all of you at once," Lashana told him once she had her breath back and was certain that she didn't have any cracked ribs. The shock of his uncharacteristic outburst however, was going to last a little longer. "You wanna come back?" 

"You have to ask?" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"I can't believe.... Are you immortal and you just didn't tell us?" 

Telca sighed wearily. "We're not immortal, Duncan," she muttered as she lead the way down an empty street, raising a hand to rub at her aching temple. _I have such a headache...._ A flash of gold caught her attention then, and she rose her gaze to look at the portal in front of her, then at the four people who stepped out. "It's about time! I was getting worried. Where's Blacky?" 

Lashana met her friends gaze and shook her head. 

"That _bastard!_" the burgundy haired sorceress growled, eyes turning amber. "What the hell is wrong with him!?" 

Kang, who saw Lashana's expression crumple, glanced at Telca and drew a talon over his throat, seeing her eyes widen momentarily before she nodded in understanding. 

"Lashana!" 

"Oof! Hey Duncan. Fuzzy. Man, it's good to see you. Ugh...Duncan...what did you do to your clothes?" 

Telca waited until everyone had done the mandatory greetings and such before speaking. "So who do we go after next? Actually, who's left?" 

~Kenshin, Malcho, and Wolverine, I believe,~ Mewtwo answered. 

"Personally, I think we should go after de samurai," Remy said, drawing everyones gazes. "He be de only one in another dimension, oui?" 

"Yeah.... yeah, cuz Malcho would go back to the Rainforest...." 

"And Wolvie's probably back at that bar in Canada." Telca finished, catching onto Lashana's train of thought. "Well okay then. Kenshin it is." 


	7. Beware of Psycho Battousai's

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   
__ __

Beware of psycho Battousai's   


"Would it kill them to have a _bathroom?!_" Nightcrawler groused. 

Kang rolled his eyes from where he was keeping watch, making sure the teen wouldn't be...disturbed. "It's Ancient Japan. They don't _have_ bathrooms. It's either the bushes or the outhouses in the town." 

"Gross." 

Telca snickered where she was standing next to Lashana and exchanged amuzed glances with the other sorceress. "Is that poison ivy?" 

"Ack!" _BAMF!_

~That was cruel,~ Mewtwo frowned, looking at them reprovingly for a moment before smiling. ~It's nice to have you back.~ 

"In a perverse sort of way," Duncan chipped in, ducking the smack that Remy had aimed for his head. 

"Ugh. Can we go now?" Nightcrawler grumbled as he rejoined them. 

"Do we have any idea where he could be?" Zelgadis asked once they were all headed towards a small town again. He tugged at the hood on his cloak and the cloth mask that covered most of his face, hiding his appearance from the locals as they past them. 

"None," Lashana sighed. "Granted it can't be _that_ hard to track down a swordsman that had flaming red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek." 

"Did you say a cross-shaped scar?" 

"Ack!" She jumped in fright and spun around to face the elderly woman that had snuck up on her. 

"Uh yeah... yeah she did," Telca said. "You've heard of him?" 

"There's talk of a samurai that took on a band of theives," the old woman told them. "He headed for town." 

"When was this?" Zelgadis asked. 

"Yesterday, actually." 

"Great! We might be able to catch up with him!" Lashana grinned, blinking when the woman gasped in horror. 

"You're in league with that killer?!" 

"Killer?" Duncan echoed, watching as the woman ran away before exchanging glances with Mewtwo and Remy. "That means...." 

"He's gone back to his Battousai mindset," Kang finished with a growl. "This isn't going to be easy." 

"Is anything?" Telca sighed, brushing her bangs out of her eyes and shielding her eyes with a hand as she gazed towards town. "Well, nothing much else to do but track him down and deal with him then." 

"Maybe we can hit him with a Sleep spell," Lashana suggested as they started walking again. 

"That's _if_ we find him," Zelgadis grumbled sourly. 

"Quit the whinin' an let's just get dis over wit," Remy said as he put an arm around Telca's shoulders, hugging her to him as they walked. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"This is a very stupid idea," Kang hissed as he followed the group into a huge empty building that could have once been described as a warehouse. 

"But that dude said that Kenshin was last seen coming in here," Nightcrawler protested. 

"But he's in a killer's mindset," the draconian pointed out. 

"Oh." 

Telca smiled and rose a hand. "Let there be light!" 

Lashana blinked at the sphere of white light that appeared above them and grinned. "Kewl. Been experimenting with the new Powers, hmm?" 

"Like you haven't?" 

"I said nothing," the Elf smirked as she headed deeper into the building. "Lesee, grain, grain, flour, nope. No Kenshin. Just these crates of suppli--_whoa!_" She threw herself backwards as a sword flashed by millimeters from her nose, hitting the floor with her shoulder and immediately rolling to her feet. "Shit!" 

Duncan followed her gaze and frowned when he saw the samurai in a battle stance in front of them, his loose hair partially hiding his golden eyes as he glared at them. _This is not good._

"Oh boy... Uh. Hi Kenshin, old buddy, old pal... You remember us, right?" Telca asked nervously. 

"Obviously not!" Lashana yelled as he leapt at them, sword raised high. Acting on new instincts, she rose her right arm and clenched her hand into a fist, the spines bursting from her arm bare seconds before Kenshin's sword struck her. 

"Holy shit!" Zelgadis gasped, staring at the Elf as she used the new curved spines on her right arm to keep the katana from cutting into herself. "Where'd she get those?" 

~L-Sama,~ Mewtwo answered as he ran forward and kicked the red-headed samurai in the chest, sending him flying backwards. 

"_L-Sama?!?!_" 

"Oh great, Zel's gone catatonic," Kang grumbled. 

"Remy! Lookout!" Telca cried, running forward to stand in front of her Cajun and raising her hands. "_Craft the spell in the fire, craft it well, weave it higher. Weave it now of shining flame, none shall pass to hurt or maim! None shall pass this firey wall!_" 

"Whoa...kewl..." Nightcrawler murmured as a shield of shimmering fire encased both Telca and Remy, deflecting Kenshin's sword strike with ease. 

"But that doesn't help the rest of us!" Duncan yelped as Lashana rushed the samurai, using the spines on her arms as both weapons and protection from Kenshin's attacks. "Dammit! If only I had my katana!" 

Lashana gritted her teeth as she dodged an attack that would have sent the sword deep into her side and scrambled backwards, her arms rising to protect herself as Kenshin attacked again. "KENSHIN!! It's _me! _It's Lashana! Stop!!" She took another step back and cried out in surprise as her foot slipped on the floor, sending her crashing to the ground. 

"Lashana!" Telca yelled, banishing the shield in lieu of summoning a fireball. _I don't want to hurt Kenshin either... but I'm not about to lose my best-friend...._

The Elf looked up into Kenshin's cold eyes for a long moment as he stood a little ways away from her, his gaze searching hers for the briefest of instances before he lunged. She gasped and started to rise her right arm, hoping to once again deflect the blade.... 

The wall next to her shattered inward, a blur of movement barreling into Kenshin and slamming him up against the opposite wall with enough force that the boards creaked with the strain. Golden eyes searched the gaping spectators until they settled on the shocked Elf, the panick there vanishing to be replaced with a relieved warmth. "Are you alright?" 

Lashana shivered and slowly got to her feet, dimly aware that Remy, Kang and Mewtwo had moved to disarm and restrain Kenshin as the figure moved towards her. "....Black...." She winced at what their last encounter had been like and took a wary step back as he neared her. 

"Let's leave them alone for a bit, shall we?" Telca whispered to the others. "Someone carry Kenshin. I don't want him to get away." 

Blackwargreymon watched as the others filed out of the building, grimacing at the angry glare that Kang sent him. _What if I can't fix this...._ "Lashana." 

She watched him warily, knowing how fast he could attack. "Blackwargreymon.... W-what... What are you doing here?" 

"Saving my future." When she frowned in incomprehension, he dropped down onto one knee and slammed the blades of his gauntlets into the floor, freeing his arms from the straps afterwards. "Lashana, I--," he glanced away for a moment before getting the nerve to meet her gaze again, his eyes widening at the shadow of fear he saw there. "Oh Gods.... Lashana, I'm sorry. I--I never...." He gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut as his tears started to fall, his voice falling to the barest of whispers. "I'm so sorry...." 

He didn't know how long he knelt there. Hours, minutes, it didn't matter. All he had was the knowledge that he may never be able to get her back...that for the first time in over two years, she was afraid of him. Thus it was a huge surprise when he felt her hands brush his tears from his cheeks, her arms sliding around his neck as she gently pulled him close until he could bury his face in her hair. "Lashana...." His own arms went around her in a vice-grip, fairly crushing her to him as he clung to her, unable to stop crying as she returned the embrace with equal strength and desperation. 

It took him five minutes to get himself under enough control that he could stop crying, and another five until she could do the same. He sighed and lightly nuzzled the side of her neck, inhaling a breath of her scent to assure himself that she really was there before he let out a soft purr and rubbed his cheek against the side of her head. "I missed you so much...." he murmured. "I am so sorry. I didn't know how.... how to react when you just showed up like that. I knew it was you, but I was just so.... I--" 

Lashana cut him off the simplest way she knew how. She kissed him. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"You think dey're okay?" Remy frowned, glancing at Telca worriedly. 

"Well, there's no screaming, no fireballs of destruction. So, yes. I think so," she answered. 

"Want me to bamf in there and take a look?" 

Duncan looked at Nightcrawler and smirked. "I don't think they'd appreciate that." 

~They're having a moment. Just leave them alone,~ Mewtwo said while he gazed over at the tied and gagged Kenshin. ~I'm more concerned with what we're going to do with him.~ 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"I am sorry, you know," Blackwargreymon sighed after he had pulled away to meet her gaze. 

"I know." She reached up and lightly brushed his overlong bangs out of his eyes, trying not to start crying again when she saw the scar on the side of his head. 

He frowned, realizing what was upsetting her. "Beast said that I Healed in record time. It doesn't hurt anymore..." he rose a hand to brush her tears from her cheeks as she started crying again and sighed. "It's okay..." 

"No it's not!" she protested. "I thought we were doing the right thing! Kang keeps telling me that we did what we had to....but look at what happened! You and the others.... Telca an I came back seconds before Mewtwo was going to kill himself!" 

"Lashana," he cut her off with the sternest growl he could muster at the moment and hooked a talon under her chin, gently forcing her to raise her gaze to meet his. "I'm not saying that I'm okay with what you did, because obviously I'm not.... But you and Telca saved my life, and those of the others. You gave everything you had....for us....for me. I know that now. Nothing is your fault. Maybe if....if more of us came to that conclusion sooner then all this mess wouldn't have happened. 'Shana....I don't blame you. It's not your fault." 

She shuddered and hugged him, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and purred. "I love you, Black." 

A shiver went down his spine, and he tightened his hold on her in response. "I love you too. Now and forever." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Okay," Telca grumbled as she looked at her watch. "This is getting ridiculous." 

"Give dem five more minutes, chere," Remy chuckled. "Dey probably a little distracted at de moment." 

"TMI," she grimaced. 

"We are not TMI-ing, you pervert." 

Telca blinked and turned to look at the owner of the voice, smirking when she watched Lashana and Blackwargreymon walk out of the building. "Well, well. Hello, Blacky." 

He grinned. "Banshee." 

Duncan smirked and elbowed Nightcrawler. "They missed each other, they just won't admit it." 

"Oy...Zel? Zel!" Lashana walked over to the still catatonic chimera and waved a hand in front of his face. "_Zel!_" 

"L-Sama......L-Sama?....." 

"He's been like this for how long now?" 

Mewtwo shrugged. ~Almost twenty minutes now, I think,~ he told the Elf. ~Why? It's kinda funny.~ 

"Oh for the love of...." she rolled her eyes and went to pick up a piece of wood lying nearby, yelling out the chimera's name as she broke it over his head. 

He cried out and crashed to the ground, glaring at her afterwards. "Ow! What'd you do that for?!" 

"I didn't want to break my hand trying to beat intelligence back into that skull of yours!" she grumbled as she tossed the remaining half of the board over her shoulder, blinking at a yelp of pain. 

"Oh, nice Lashana. You just beaned Kenshin," Kang growled. 

"He's not dead...right?" Nightcrawler asked hopefully, peering at the samurai. 

"Ugh.... Nani?! Telca-dono?! Lashana-dono?!" 

"Oooh! Look! He's back to normal!" Lashana grinned. 

"Wha....why am I tied up? What's going on?!" Kenshin cried, glancing at everyone in complete confusion. 

Kang sighed and used a dagger to cut him free. "I'll explain along the way." 

"How the hell did you get here anyway?" Telca frowned as she looked from a confuzzled Kenshin to the Digimon that was staying close to the Elf. 

"Oh....that. L-Sama opened a portal for me," he shrugged. 

"L-Sama?!" 

~Wonderful. Zel's out of it again,~ Mewtwo groaned. 

"Well someone go find another two-by-four and wake him up. We've got two more Guys to find," Telca sighed. 

_WHACK!_

"OW! Why do you people keep hitting me?!" 

~Nice one, Duncan.~ 

"Thanks!" 

"So where are we going now?" Nightcrawler asked, looking at Lashana and Telca curiously. 

Telca exchanged glances with Lashana, shrugged, and pulled out a coin. "Tails we go after Malcho, heads Wolverine." 

"Deal!" 


	8. Tails, I win!

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   


Tails I win!   
  


"Ugh...why is it so wet here?" 

"Maybe because it's called a _rain forest,_" Lashana growled, glancing back at Duncan in annoyance as she trudged through the thick forest. 

"I don't think his Immortal Healing ability's managed to get all that alcohol out of his system yet," Kang smirked, looking back at them from where he, Mewtwo and Duncan were walking ahead of the main group. 

"Really? I can't tell the difference between when he's drunk or when he's sober." 

"Hey! I resent that, Telca!" 

"Hehe." 

"Nice to see that you haven't changed," Zelgadis commented as he looked over at Telca. 

"Hard to change when only an hour goes by," Lashana muttered under her breath as she picked her way over a slick patch of moss. 

Blackwargreymon blinked and stared down at her. "An hour?" 

"Yeah," Telca sighed, pushing her bangs out of her face as she walked next to Remy. "It was only an hour to us.... when we got back.... everything was just....." 

"Fubared," Lashana finished for her as she hopped over a bush and landed heavily in a puddle. "Ick." 

"WAAH!!" 

_THUD!_

~Duncan, how have you managed to survive this long?~ Mewtwo asked as he helped the Immortal to his feet again. It was the fourth time he had fallen in the past half-hour. It had been rather funny at first, but now it was just pitiful. 

"Maybe he trips and falls at just the right time to keep someone from cutting his head off," Kang suggested, ignoring the dirty look from the Immortal as he pushed a mess of vines and low branches aside and ducked past them.... 

_THWACK!_

~OW!~ 

"Oops. Sorry," the draconian winced, glancing back at the pokemon that had just gotten smacked in the face with the branches he had released. 

"Chere, dis gonna be like findin' a needle in de haystack," Remy muttered to his sorceress as he helped her over a fallen tree. 

"He's a 50 foot long, 950lb purple snake! How hard can he be to find?!" Lashana protested, yelping when Kenshin tripped and fell onto her, sending both of them crashing onto the ground. "This is starting to piss me off." 

Black sighed and reached down to help her to her feet, seeing her smile at him in thanks. "Here," he murmured as he slid his right arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet, his other arm holding her against him. Unable to help it, he leaned forward and lightly nuzzled the side of her neck, blinking at the teasing catcalls that erupted from his left. "Shut up Nightcrawler." 

"Aww! But dude! It's a Kodak moment!" 

"It's something alright," Telca smirked, seeing Lashana blush as she winked at the Elf. 

"Hey! There's a clearing up ahead!" Kang yelled back to them from where he was scouting ahead with Zelgadis. 

"Thank you Gods," Duncan sighed as he tugged his leg free of a tree root. 

**You're welcome.**

He blinked. "Anyone else hear that?" 

Lashana and Telca exchanged mischivous glances. "Hear what?" 

"There was a..." he trailed off as everyone looked at him curiously, then shook his head. "Nothing." 

A low chuckle rumbled out of Blackwargreymon's chest as he looked at the Elf he was carrying. "I missed this, you know." 

"Yeah, I know," she murmured as she rested her cheek against his. 

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he whispered, trying to keep their conversation at least semi-private. "What happened to our Bond? It's....it's not there anymore." 

Lashana sighed and closed her eyes. "I know. It....it's gone, Black." When he didn't say anything, she opened her eyes and twisted to meet his gaze, seeing a shadow of utter horror there. "I don't know if we can get it back or not." 

"Hey, you two okay?" Telca called when she realized that the two had stopped, looking back in time to see Blacky lower his face into the Elf's hair and hug her tightly. "Hello?" 

"What? Oh, yeah. We're...we're okay," Lashana said softly as she put her arms around Black's neck and held him awkwardly while he resumed walking. 

"Liar." 

"Well, yes." 

"What's going on with them?" Kang whispered to Mewtwo as he, the pokemon, Duncan and Kenshin grouped together. 

~Their Bond was destroyed when Lashana sacrificed herself,~ the pokemon answered, frowning worriedly. ~There is little chance of them ever regaining it.~ 

"Damn," Duncan sighed, glancing back at the pair. "Something needs to turn around here and go right for a change." 

"Fat chance," Kang grumbled sourly as Kenshin used his katana to slice through a curtain of thick vines. 

"See? _This_ is exactly why I should carry a weedwhacker in one of my portals," Telca grumbled to Zelgadis, who looked at her in shock. 

"I think the sight of you wielding a weedwhacker anywhere near a forest would send hordes of environmental conservationalists down upon us." 

"Gee, thanks." 

Nightcrawler grinned at them from where he was keeping pace with them via the trees and vines above, loosing a wild yell of elation as he curled his tail around a thick vine and swung out over them. "YAAAHOOO!!!" 

Lashana blinked, then screamed in surprise when the teen grabbed her shoulders and hauled her out of Blackwargreymon's arms, bringing her along for the ride. "Fuzzy! Let go!!" 

"Really?" 

She looked down and felt her stomach lurch at how far away the ground now was. "NO!" 

The teen grinned and did a backflip off the vine, wincing at her cry of fright before he lithely landed on a large branch. "There, wasn't that fun?" he asked her, frowning when he discovered that she was too busy hyperventilating and glomping the tree to answer. "You're no fun.... Uh oh... Lashana? Don't move." 

"Why?" she frowned, glancing back at him and blinking when she saw that his terrified gaze was fixed on something directly above her. Curious and perhaps a little stupid, she rose her gaze to follow his and stared right into the black beady eyes of a gigantic, hairy spider seconds before it jumped off the tree and landed on the back of her jacket. 

Her reaction could be heard for miles around. 

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFFAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" 

"What the?" Kang looked upwards at the sound of crashing and breaking branches and gaped as both Lashana and Nightcrawler fell from the trees and landed in a mess of leaves and twigs. "What are you doing?!" 

"GET IT OFF!!" Lashana screamed as she wriggled out of her jacket, threw it onto the ground and proceeded to beat it with a large stick. 

"What's going on?!" Telca yelled as she, Remy, Zelgadis and Blackwargreymon ran over to them, skidding to a stop when she saw a huge spider clinging to the stick Lashana was madly waving around. "SPIDER!!" 

Lashana glanced at the stick as she held it over her head, saw the spider staring down at her, screamed, and flung the stick towards the treetops before grabbing her jacket and bolting for the clearing, yelling incoherantly the entire way. 

"Well.... that was just like old times," Zelgadis remarked to no one in particular as Blackwargreymon ran after the still screaming Elf, yelping when something smacked onto his head and got caught in his chimeric hair. Grumbling, he reached up and pulled it free, staring at the stick and the still present spider for a moment. He stared. The spider stared. He moved to throw the stick. The spider glomped his face. 

Remy looked back at a blood-curdling scream of horror and stared at Zelgadis as he ran past, arms flailing wildly. "What be his problem?" 

"The list is far too long and I am far too lazy to recount it," Telca answered. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Lashana growled as she violently shook dirt off her jacket, inspecting it closely before putting it on again. "I. _Hate._ Spiders!! Hate them, hate them, _hate them!!_" 

Blackwargreymon smothered a chuckle, but not before she heard him. "Sorry." 

"This is _not_ funny!" she protested, glaring at him angrily for a moment before frowning at the warm look he was giving her. "What?" 

"Nothing," he murmured as he bent down and kissed her forehead lightly. "I love you." 

She smiled and leaned against him, closing her eyes for a moment before screaming in shock when Zelgadis slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. "I'm gettin' mighty sick o' this," she grumbled as she rolled over to look at the chimera, all the colour draining from her face when she saw the spider that was still latched onto him. "AAAAHHHH!! _CHAOS ORB!!_" 

Blackwargreymon rose a gauntlet to shield his face from the explosion of gold and black Power, blinking momentarily before raising his gaze to follow Zel's airborne trajectory.... 

_WHAM! _"YEEEOUCH!!" 

....that sent the chimera right into a huge thorn bush. 

Lashana, meanwhile, was once again alternating between hyperventilating and looking around for the spider, a golden black sphere of energy cupped in her right hand. 

"I think you killed it," the Digimon rumbled. "Either that or Zel landed on it." 

"Did you get it?" Nightcrawler yelled as he and the others ran over to them. "Where's Zel?" 

The Elf rose her left hand and pointed towards the thornbush, her breath still coming in rapid gasps. 

"Get a hold of yourself," Telca frowned, fwaping the Elf the Guys went to help the chimera. "It's only a spider." 

"It was as big as your cat!" Lashana protested as she dismissed the black and gold sphere in her right hand. "It was just...." she trailed off and shuddered violently, hugging herself. "I_ hate_ spiders!" 

"I'm sure that they're not all to fond of you right now either," Telca said as she grabbed Lashana's arm and started pulling her along as she headed for the others, dimly aware that Blackwargreymon was trying to pull the Elf away from her. "No c'mon! We gotta get Zel out of whatever he's stuck in and find that snake of yours!" 

"Get me out of here!" 

"We're trying, keep your pants on," Kang snarled, glaring at the impatient chimera that was completely stuck in the large thornbush. 

"Why don't you just let Kenshin cut him free?" Nightcrawler asked curiously, drawing the gazes of everyone present. 

Mewtwo blinked. ~Good point.~ 

"No! He'll cut my clothes!!" 

"Alright! That's it!" 

"Kang! No!!" 

"_FIREBALL!!_" 

"Remind me again why helping him relearn his magicks was a good thing?" Telca said to Lashana and the now-smirking guys pulled the crispy chimera from the charcholed thorn bush. 

"Uh....because he helps us beat up Xellos?" Lashana suggested from where she was standing next to Blackwargreymon. 

"Good enough," Telca shrugged, turning to address the guys. "Are you all finished trying to set the forest on fire? Can we go now?" 

"We could, but I don't think they'd let us," Duncan said, pointing to a spot behind Lashana. 

"Who-?"The Elf turned to look behind her and gasped at the sight of the three dozen people that had completely surrounded them. "Uh.....hi?" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"We have to work on your personal relations skills," Telca snarled at Lashana half an hour later. She, and the rest of the Harem, were currently hog-tied, their ropes attached to large poles that let their captors carry them around. Unfortunately, they were being carried upside down and the constant swinging from side to side was going to make her puke. 

"It's not my fault if they don't speak English!!" the Elf shot back. 

Telca glared at her as best she could, then yelped when her carriers/captors lowered her a bit too far, her head hitting an outcropped rock. "OW! Higher, you dolts! Lift me higher!!" 

Lashana sighed and lowered her head. It hurt her neck too much for her to overly look around while she was in this position. So she stared upwards, past the pole that she was suspended on, looking at the passing canopy for a moment before one of their captors happened to walk past. "Telca!! _Telca!!_" 

"What?!" 

"That guy.... he had a tattoo that looked just like Malcho!" 

~Maybe this is some sort of lost tribe,~ Mewtwo mused, his gaze now holding a level of interest as he looked at the people around them. 

"I really wish we had thought to bring a Universal Translator with us," Nightcrawler moaned. "Beast has dozens of them in his lab." 

"Well we didn't know this would happen, now did we?" Duncan muttered. "There's no use whining about it now." 

"Oh, look whose talking." 

"Hey, shut up Zelgadis!" 

Telca sighed and looked over at Lashana. "Y'know. somehow I thought that being the high priestess of a Goddess would garner a little more respect than this." 

"I know," Lashana moaned. "This is killing my back." She lifted her head and looked down the line of tribesmen to the two Guys that had been forced to walk because they were simply too heavy for them to carry, sighing as she studied Kang and Blackwargreymon for a moment before the pain in her neck forced her to lean her head back again. 

"If Remy could just reach de ropes, he be free in a second...." 

"Don't," Telca hissed. "You'd be outnumbered! Haven't you noticed that they're armed with knives and spears? I do not want them to turn you into a pincushion!!" 

"Well we gotta do something," Zelgadis muttered as the people around them started to gesture at them, talking amongst themselves. 

Lashana strained her hearing, putting her Elven heritage to good use as she listened to the tribesmen's conversation, managing to pick out a few words that she understood and not liking what she understood one damn bit. "Uh oh." 

"Uh oh?" Telca looked over at her friend. "What 'uh oh'?" 

"Um...from what little Spanish that they use and I understand... We're supposed to be sacrifices to their God." 

~Lovely. Any idea who this 'God' is?~ Mewtwo telepathed. 

"None," she sighed, yelping when the pole she was hanging from was lurched upwards until it was supported at both ends by large boulders. "Well...at least the swinging stopped. Telca?" She looked around, trying to spot her friend. "Telca!" 

"Over here." 

She twisted and looked over at the sorceress that was hanging nearby. "I have an idea. Go Avatar. Maybe we can freak them out long enough to free the Guys and run like-- OW!" The last was due to the fact that she had just been poked with the sharp end of a spear. "That hurt!!" 

Telca used Lashana's screaming as the perfect distraction. Gritting her teeth, she twisted her hands in the ropes and grasped the pole she was hanging from, pulling herself upwards until she was precariously perched on the top of the pole. _This reminds me way to much of gymnastics...._ Seeing Lashana glance at her, she quickly lowered her head and used her teeth to undo the knots holding her wrists, gasping in relief as she yanked her hands free and used a fireball to free her legs. "Now!" 

Lashana grinned and loosed a wild yell as her Powers flared bright gold around her. By positioning her arms just so, the emerging spines managed to completely cut through the pole, freeing her from her hanging prison. It took her only seconds to cut her way free before she leapt to her feet and let the change fully take over. 

Having been watching how the tribe had backed away from Lashana, Telca smirked and called on her own Powers, closing her eyes as she wonderous feeling of Life coursed through her veins. When she opened her eyes, silver bangs obscured her view, and she immediately rose a hand to clear her view, blinking at her now silver nails before grinning. "Kewl. We're gonna have to do this where there's a mirror sometime." 

"Definately!" Lashana smiled, raising a fisted hand and looking at the three black energy daggers that appeared between her fingers for a moment before grinning and lobbing them towards the tied-up guys. 

~Oof!! A bit of a warning would have been nice!~ Mewtwo groaned from where he lay on the ground, his feet still firmly tied to the pole. 

"Quit yer whinin'," Lashana smirked as she rose a hand and loosed a low-power shockwave at the tribe, forcing them back. 

"Free the others," Telca called as she summoned a strong wind that kicked up dirt and debris, distracting the tribe while Lashana quickly darted to the Guys that were still bound and used the wickedly sharp spines on her arms to cut the free. 

"Okay!" Lashana said breathlessly once she was finished and had returned to Telca's side. "Now what?" 

"Oh, I dunno. I was thinking of running," Telca said as she let her spell wear down to a light breeze. 

"Good plan." 

"Carumba!! What is going on out here?!!" 

Lashana blinked at the yell and looked around her as all the tribespeople dropped to their knees and bowed. "Okaaay. I guess that must be what they think is their....God....._MALCHO!!_" 

Kang grimaced and nudged Blackwargreymon in the ribs. "Boy they must be really hurting if this is who they're willing to worship as a God." 

"Kang! I heard that!" Lashana snarled, glaring at him angrily before turning back to the quetzacoatl that had now fully emerged from the forest. _Oh geez....he's lost weight..._

"Que? What is going on around here? Blackwargreymon? Kang?! What are you doing here, mi amigos?!" Malcho looked around at all the Guys before his gaze rested on the two females directly in front of him. "Who-?" 

"Malcho....it's us," Lashana whispered as she closed her eyes and recalled the Power, hearing his quiet gasp as she reverted to her natural form. "We came back." 

"Mi....mi amiga...." he rose a shaking wing and reached out to brush his feathers over her face, swallowing thickly before looking at the silver-haired woman next to the Elf. "Then....Telca? But....how...." 

"S'a long story," Telca sighed. "We figured you'd want to be around when we told it." 

Still shocked, he only managed a dumb nod before looking at the Elf again. "I....I did not think it possible...." 

"Would you hurry up and hug her already so we can leave!" Duncan yelled, crying out when both Mewtwo and Kenshin smacked him. 

"Idiot..." Lashana growled, closing her eyes seconds later when she was enveloped in warm scaled feathers. She twisted in Malcho's hold and reached up to throw her arms around his neck, returning the hug as best she could. 

"I thought we had lost you, amiga," he whispered, shivering when she brushed his tears from his cheeks. "I missed you so much...." 

"Um....not to ruin this or anything," Nightcrawler hedged. "But the locals are getting restless." 

Malcho rose his head from Lashana's shoulder and looked back at the tribe, frowning when he saw the numerous pleased grins being sent his way. "Uh oh." 

"What? What 'uh oh'? I am not liking the number of 'uh oh's we've had this trip," Telca said worriedly. "What?" 

"Um...." he swallowed and listened to one of the tribespeople talk for a moment before a fierce blush coloured his face. "They....um....think that Lashana is now my chosen.....uh.....ahrm....." 

Everyone stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to finish the sentence. It was Blackwargreymon that caught on first. 

"Oooh no!" he growled as he stalked forward and snatched Lashana out of Malcho's wings, pulling her close as he returned the glares of the tribespeople with a venomous glare of his own. "_Mine!_" 

Lashana rolled her eyes and looked at Telca. "Why don't these things ever happen to you?" 

"Because I'm not stupid enough to run around hugging things that people think are Gods," Telca smirked. 

Malcho rolled his eyes and turned back to the tribe as the medicine woman stepped forward, talking angrily. "Uh..." 

"What? Yo, translation please!" Telca frowned. 

The quetzacoatl sighed heavily. "She says that we cannot leave unless we give them a replacement God." 

Telca smirked. "Well Malcho, it looks like you're going to have to lay that egg after all," she grinned, not fazed in the least at the glare he sent her. 

Lashana backed away warily as the woman pointed to Malcho, then to her, yelping as numerous tribesmen came forward and grabbed her arms, starting to shove her towards a large hut. "H-hey! Let go!" she yelled, sighing in relief when Blackwargreymon yanked her into his arms and snarled at the tribe, eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"Non!" Remy shouted as the tribeswoman then pointed to Telca, moving to stand in front of his sorceress and raising six charged cards. "You not be takin' my chere!" 

Telca frowned and lay a hand on his arm. "It's okay," she whispered in his ear. "I have a plan." 

"But chere! Dey want you to-" 

"Remy, this is me we're talking about. I can get myself out of any situation," she grinned as she pulled away and willingly headed for the hut. "C'mon Malcho." 

The quetzacoatl looked at her as if she was insane, then glanced at Lashana, who shrugged. "Carumba...." he sighed before slithering after the Avatar. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"It's been two hours," Blackwargreymon whispered to Lashana. "What the hell are they doing?" 

"Do we really want to know?" Kang rumbled from where he was sitting on the ground beside them as he watched Remy pace in front of them. 

"Pervert," Lashana growled, smacking the draconian lightly before lying back in Black's arms, her gaze automaticly going to the large hut. _She said she had a plan...but why the hell is it taking her two hours to work it out?_

~They're coming out,~ Mewtwo announced seconds later, making the entire group lunge to their feet and take a collective step towards the emerging duo. 

Remy gasped and ran forward to throw his arms around Telca, belatedly noticing that she had reverted to her normal form. "Chere? What-?" 

"I'll explain everything later," she winked, giving him a quick kiss before reaching out and pulling the hut's flap open, gesturing for the medicine woman to step inside. "Malcho, you know what to tell them." 

Lashana exchanged wary glances with Blackwargreymon and Kang and slowly crept forward, peeking around a stunned and gaping Remy at a large sphere that was glowing the same purple shade as Malcho's scales from where it was situated in the middle of the hut. "Oh. My. Gods." 

"What?" Nightcrawler asked, bamfing over to the Elf and looking inside. "Oh man! Don't tell me they-!" 

Remy turned and glared at the young mutant, cutting him off with that single look. 

"Uh.... I'll go tell the others." _BAMF!_

Lashana crept over to Telca and frowned. "You gonna explain this?" 

"When we're out of here, yes." 

"I have told them that is must be left alone to....mature," Malcho said suddenly, drawing everyone's gaze. "And that even though it is mere an egg, it will Heal those who touch it's shell." 

"Good," Telca nodded, forcing a smile as the medicine woman came over and bowed to her. "Uh...yeah. You're welcome. C'mon y'all, let's get out of here. This heat is starting to get on my nerves." 

It wasn't until they were well out of sight of the tribe that Zelgadis looked at a twitching Remy. "Uh...you okay?" When all he got was another twitch as an answer, he gulped and moved a few meters back. 

"Okay, now what the hell did you two do in there?" Lashana asked from where she was kneeling on Malcho's back as he slithered through the jungle. 

Duncan grimaced. "Do we really want to know?" 

"Oh don't be perverted," Telca growled, reaching over to smack the Immortal. "It was really easy. See, I had Malcho do that freaky burrowing thing he does and go find a large rock that looked somewhat like an egg, then I simply charged it with Healing energy and added a spell that would make it glow." 

Remy stared at her. "You gave dem....a glowin' rock?" 

She grinned. "And they think it's a baby God." 

"Why the Healing energy?" Kenshin asked curiously. 

Telca ducked her head slightly. "I kinda felt guilty about tricking them. I figured that they should get _something_ useful out of all this." 

"A glowing rock..." Blackwargreymon snickered and shook his head. 

"Well....this certainly was like old times," Malcho chuckled, glancing back at the Elf that was perched on his back. "About that....explaination?" 

"We'll explain everything as soon as we get Wolverine and go back to the Palace," Lashana promised. "Telca, you said that he'd probably go back to Canada, right?" 

"Right. We'll start at that bar he used to fight in," she said as she opened a portal. "I just hope it's cooler there, this heat is gonna kill me."   
  
  



	9. End of the Search

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   
  


End of the Search   
  


"When I said that I hoped it was cooler here, this is _not_ what I meant," Telca growled as she hugged herself to keep warm and looked back at the portal as it closed, leaving them in the middle of a full-blown Canadian snow-storm. 

Lashana shivered in agreement and hopped off of Malcho's back, rubbing her hands over her arms as she turned to look at the panicking quetzacoatl. "I know you hate the cold, will you let me put a spell on you so you can come inside with us?" 

"You have to ask?!" 

She chuckled and rose a hand, beckoning for him to come closer. Once his head was inches away from her, she grinned and snapped her fingers. 

~What the?! Where'd he go?!~ Mewtwo yelled, looking from the spot Malcho had been seconds before to the grinning Elf. ~What did you do?~ 

"Calm down. He's fine," she smiled as she bent and picked up the rattlesnake sized winged snake. "I just shrunk him." She rose the snake until he was at eye level with her and met his wide-eyed gaze. "No biting of the Elf, comprende?" When he nodded she sighed and lifted him up a bit higher. 

Getting the idea, Malcho slithered from her hands and into her jacket, loosely coiling himself around her neck as he burrowed into her hair. 

Blackwargreymon rumbled lowly and bent close to Lashana, eyeing Malcho warningly. "If you even _think_ about doing anything, I'll hurt you, understand?" 

Telca snickered as the now tiny snake nodded franticly and headed for the nearby bar, smiling when Remy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he walked by her side. "After this we can go back to the Palace. There's heat there....blessed blessed heat...." She reached out and shoved the door open, taking a step back in surprise at the blast of noise that escaped out into the storm before squaring her shoulders and going in. 

"You're not going to leave us out here? Right?" Kang asked, looking at Lashana warily as Duncan, Kenshin and the image inducer wearing Nightcrawler headed inside. 

She winced. "You'd kinda stick out in an all-human bar.... Mewtwo? You capable of psychically blocking people from seeing you three?" Lashana asked, looking from the draconian to the Digimon before settling on the pokemon. 

~We're about to find out, aren't we?~ he smirked as he headed past her and walked into the bar, sighing in relief at the warm that quickly chased the coldness from him. ~Well...no one's screaming yet.~ 

"....good enough," she said as she shoved Blackwargreymon and Kang into the bar, reaching back to grab Zel's cape at the last minute. "I'm not leaving you out here to freeze. Put your mask and hood on and get yer arse in here." 

The chimera looked at her in surprise, then nodded. "You think they'll have coffee?" 

"If they do get me a cup," she shivered, feeling Malcho gently tighten himself around her neck as she walked deeper into the bar, frowning when she didn't see Telca. "Malcho? You see where Telca went?" 

He hissed softly and rose himself. "No, amiga," he murmured, flicking his tongue out to taste the scents in the air and grimacing at the thick heaviness of alcohol and sweat. "But Wolverine ahead and to your right." 

She nodded slightly and rose the collar of her jacket, hoping to hide the snake from people's view as she headed into the yelling and cheering crowd, carefully making her way to the front so she could see what was going on.... 

...and came practically face to face with Wolverine. 'Practically' because he was currently in the fighting cage minus a shirt, smoking one of his stogies while he waiting for the next 'contestant' to be enlisted. "Wolvie...." 

He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes wide in shock, the stogie falling from his mouth as he took a breath of the air and caught her scent. "....darlin'?" 

"GO WOLVIE!! KICK HIS ARSE!!!" 

The Canuck jerked his gaze to the left, staring at the familiar burgundy-haired sorceress that was grinning insanely and cheering him on as she headed for Lashana, the Cajun that was walking by her side raising a hand to wave a Jack of Spades card at him. "Holy flamin' shit." 

"Watch it!" Lashana yelled as the new contestant - a big bulky male that looked like soap hadn't been his friend in over a year - swung a fist at the Canucks head. She shouldn't have bothered with the warning. 

Nostrils flaring to catch the new scent, Wolverine ducked and spun, slamming a fist into the guy's stomach before backhanding him aside and racing out of the cage, leaving the poor bastard to fall to the cage floor, out cold. He shoved his way through the crowd and grabbed both sorceresses in a bear hug, letting his breath out in a tortured sob as they hugged him back. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"That fight sucked man." 

"Yeah!" 

"All because that bastard wanted to get it on with those two bitches." 

_WHAM!!_

"Holy shit! What was that?!" 

"I dunno! Something just sent Rob's head into the wall!" 

"And you're next!" 

"Who said that man?!" 

"Ghost!! This place is haunted!! Run!!" 

Lashana sighed and rolled her eyes, looking over at the smirking pair of Kang and Blackwargreymon. Mewtwo had only blocked the existance of three of them from the Humans, so she had managed to see everything they had done. "Oh nice. You want to pull that guy out of the wall before he suffocates?" 

"Do we have to?" Kang asked innocently, grumbling when she glared and nodded. 

Wolverine looked over at the Elf from where he was sitting at the bar's counter, watching her as she went to help Blacky and Kang pull the guy from the wall for a moment before returning his gaze to Telca. "Darlin'...how tha hell-" 

She held up a hand, cutting him off with that single gesture. "We're only gonna tell this once. But back at the Palace," she looked at him worriedly, "if you want to come back that is." 

"O' course I want ta come back! Hell, tha only reason I left was cuz...." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, averting his gaze. "....cuz I thought ya were dead. It hurt too much ta stay there." 

Telca mustered up a gentle smile and reached out to touch his cheek. "Didn't we tell you that you were never going to get rid of us? Now c'mon. Let's get out of here. This place reeks something horrid. Lashana? You ready?" 

"Just a minute!" the Elf yelled as she planted a foot against the wall and heaved, yelping when the Human was suddenly freed from the wall, leaving her to crash into the floor next to the unconscious male. "Alright. I wanna leave now." 

Telca snickered and rose a hand, opening a swirling silver and purple portal. "Everybody in before the rats that live here beat you to it." 

"Heeeeeelp!" Duncan wailed as he burst from the bathroom minus half his shirt, vaulting over a table and diving into the portal. 

"Okaaaay. What was that about?" Nightcrawler asked curiously. 

"Come back honeybunch!" 

The Harem and the sorceresses turned as one to the voice, all of them paling at the sight of the human that exited the bathroom, a piece of Duncan's shirt in his hands. The male was all together unwashed, uncombed and Lashana was certain that no one's teeth were supposed to be that colour of brown. 

The man looked around, then turned bloodshot eyes to the group that was staring at him. "Where'd my honeybunch go? Hey! You're that guy that fought! You're kinda handsome!" 

There was a mass stampede for the portal.   
  
  



	10. Explanations

_Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca are us, so no taking of us. None of the Characters in the Harem belong to us. If they did, we'd be rich and belting out a Harem Anime series ^_^_   
  


Explanations   
  


"Quick! Close the portal!" Duncan wailed from where he was hiding behind the Kitchen's island counter. 

"It's closed, it's closed," Telca sighed, reaching up to rub at her aching temple. _Where did this headache come from? Oh yeah...I haven't had the time to stop and eat yet..._ She pushed her way past the group in front of the phone that was hanging from the wall, grabbed the receiver and hit the first speed dial. "Hello? Pizza Pizza? Yeah? We want five extra large pizza's. Yes, five. Two pepperoni, one all dressed and three pepperoni, italian sausage, ground beef and bacon. Yeah. And make them all thick crusts. And don't forget the garlic stix and dipping sauces!" 

Lashana grinned and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number from memory. "Heyla, Swiss Chalet? Yeah, we want six super-family meals. Uh huh....six....and three Caesar salads on the side...hold on a minute - Black? You, Kang an Zelgadis wanna call the other places?" 

There was nothing like mass ordering out that got the Harem into a good mood. 

By the time the army of delivery guys arrived, everyone had changed into comfortable clothes, Lashana had Magicked Malcho back to his natural size and Telca had actually managed to lure Beast out of his lab via the everlasting power of a fresh Twinkie. 

"Someone wanna pay that Chinese food delivery guy?" Lashana called as she hauled the six bags of Swiss Chalet food into the Kitchen and set them between the bags of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the three bags of finger-food combo platters from a little restaurant nearby. 

"Hasn't the pizza arrived yet?" Nightcrawler frowned as he swung off the light fixture and did a perfect dismount backflip onto a stool. 

"Not yet. He's got three minutes, else the entire batch is free," Telca announced as she and Remy carried the nine bags of Chinese food into the Kitchen. "Kang better have remembered to order the chicken fried rice this time." 

"After what you did to him last time, I'm pretty sure he did," Lashana chuckled, remembering how long it had taken the draconian to scrub the plum sauce off of his scales. 

"Pizza's here!" Blackwargreymon announced as he carried the five boxes into the room. "Telca, that guy's waiting for your signature for the credit card." 

"Right. Thanks!" 

He set the pizza's on the counter next to the Kentucky chicken and turned to look at the Elf as she rummaged through the Chinese food bags. "What are you looking for?" 

"Fortune cookies," she muttered, peeking into the sixth bag and grumbling as she went on to the seventh. "Aha!" 

"Shouldn't we eat dem _after_ dinner?" Remy asked in amusement as she tossed treats to himself, Blackwargreymon and Nightcrawler before taking one for herself. 

"Nah," she grinned, cracking the cookie open and pulling out the fortune, reading it silently for a moment before glancing up at Blackwargreymon and blushing. 

"What?" he frowned as he followed her example, reading his quickly and looking at her when he was done, his voice a low whisper. "What does yours say?" 

"'Great wealth is within your reach'?" Nightcrawler read his out loud. "Ja! If it was then I'd own a Ferrari!" 

Remy chuckled and read his, a warm smile spreading over his face afterwards. "'De heart's wishes always come true'," he murmured. 

"What?" Telca frowned as she rejoined them. "I missed that." 

He grinned and pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead lovingly. "Hello my heart's wish." 

_FLASH!_ "Got it!" Nightcrawler yelled, waving a camera energetically as the couple blinked dazedly. He looked down at the camera in his hands and smirked. "Knew this would come in handy." 

"So, what does yours say?" Remy asked, looking at Lashana and Blackwargreymon curiously as they compared fortunes and whispered to each other. 

_BAMF!!_ "I got them!" Nightcrawler grinned as he snatched both fortunes from the pair before bamfing over behind the Cajun and Telca, using the couple as a shield as Lashana and Blacky tried to get the fortunes back. "Whoa...they're exactly the same!" 

"What's'it say?" Telca asked, grabbing one from him and reading it. "'No matter what hurdles life throws your way, Soulmates are forever'?" She blinked and looked over at Lashana. "There something you're not telling me?" 

The Elf grimaced and glanced at Blackwargreymon, who shrugged. "Our Bond....was destroyed." 

"Aw geez.... Why don't you tell me these things?!" Telca frowned, looking at the Elf worriedly. "There's no way you can get it back?" 

Lashana shook her head. "None that I know of." 

Nightcrawler summed it up quite nicely. "Bummer, dude." 

~Who ordered the 24 pack of beer?~ Mewtwo asked as he walked into the Kitchen, the box of alcohol in his arms. He took one look at everyone's expressions and sighed. ~What happened now?~ 

"Their Bond is dead," Telca murmured. 

~I know.~ 

She growled. "Why am I always the last to know?!" 

"It's entertainment for the rest of us," Kang chuckled as he, Zelgadis and Kenshin joined the group in the Kitchen. He took a deep breath of the air and licked at his lips as he headed for the KFC bags. "Can we eat yet? Food is a great anti-depressant." 

Lashana smiled weakly and leaned against Blackwargreymon, closing her eyes when he crouched and put his arms around her, resting his chin on her right shoulder. 

"At least there's a good side to losing my horns," he murmured softly so only she could hear. "I don't have to constantly worry about accidentally hurting you." 

"Not a fair trade," she whispered. 

~You two can depress yourselves later!~ Mewtwo said sharply, startling them as he grabbed Lashana's left wrist and pulled her away from the Digimon, forcing her to sit on a stool next to him at the island counter. ~Come and eat.~ 

"How much food did we order?" Duncan gasped after all the food had been set out on the island counter, well in reach of everyone. 

"Who cares? Someone pass me those garlic spare-ribs." 

"Only if you give me a piece of KFC chicken!" 

"Deal! Catch!" 

"Kang, stop throwing food at Lashana like that. We all know she can't catch." 

"I can so! Bite me Telca!" 

"I'd rather be shot than poisoned." 

"Telca-dono, please don't throw the forks." 

"Can't aim anyway." 

"I heard that Zelgadis!" 

Blackwargreymon chuckled and moved to sit next to his Elf, grabbing a KFC macaroni salad with a hungry growl. 

"There's forks around here somewhere...." Lashana trailed off as he simply upended the entire salad into his open mouth and sighed. "Nevermind." 

He grinned at her and handed her a container of shrimp fried rice before proceeding to fight Kang for one of the Swiss Chalet Chickens. It was just like old times... the friendly taunts, the low roar of numerous conversations, the closeness that only a true family could achieve... He managed to rip a huge piece of white meat off the chicken and ignored Kang's nasty glare as he turned back to Lashana, gazing down at her lovingly as she and Zelgadis used their chopsticks to spar with each other. 

~Nightcrawler, stop swinging from the light fixture like that.~ 

"But dude! It's the only way I can get to the pizza! Wolverine's hoggin it all!!" 

"I am not ya fuzzball!" 

"De feral, he have de bottomless pit for a stomach." 

"Shaddup, Cajun." 

"Mewtwo! If you steal _one more_ egg roll from me I am going to have to dump this soya sauce on you!" 

~Ack! Sorry Telca!~ 

_SNAP!_ "Aw, man! You broke it." 

"Big deal, Lashana. You don't even know how to use chopsticks." 

".....but I was gonna fight Kang next!" 

"Yeah! She already challenged me -- HEY! Malcho!! Give that chicken back!!" 

_BURP!! _"Eh....you certain about that amigo?" 

"....nevermind." 

"Wise choice, amigo." 

"That's just sick." 

Blackwargreymon grinned and wiped his hands clean on a napkin before sliding his right arm around Lashana, pulling her against his side as he swiped a fork from Kang and stole a mouthful of rice from the container Lashana had been trying to keep from Mewtwo. 

"Ewww! PDA!!!" 

"We did nothing!" 

"Not you Blacky! Them!" Nightcrawler said, pointing to Telca and Remy who were lovingly feeding each other. 

"Ugh...someone pass me a beer." 

"Ditto! Over here!" Lashana caught the bottle that Kenshin tossed her way and watched as Duncan fumbled his catch and had it taken away from him by Wolverine. 

"Too slow bub. 'Sides. I heard ya had enough o' this stuff today." 

"There's perks to being Immortal. Give it back." 

"Kenshin, toss Duncan another beer before he starts whining," Zelgadis sighed, watching Lashana spear an egg roll with a single chop stick. "That's not how you're supposed to use them." 

"Notice how little I care," she smirked, elicting a low chuckle from Mewtwo. "'Sides, it's more useful this way." 

"S'true," Telca agreed as she savagely sunk her chopstick into a piece of chicken, grinning at the winces from everyone around her. "Whaaat?" 

"Chere, you dented de counter," Remy pointed out. 

"So?" 

"Oy..." Lashana sighed, rolling her eyes as she reached out to grab a couple of egg rolls and a piece of KFC. 

"Um.....not to ruin a wonderful meal.... but I, for one, would really like to know what happened to the two of you," Beast said, blinking when all the various conversations stopped, the silence making his ears pop. 

"Well....we did say we'd tell you," Telca sighed as she reached out to grab a piece of KFC and distractedly picked it apart, very aware that everyone's gazes were on her. "After Lashana an I.... wove those spells.... well, while it was a month of time to you all, it seemed only like less than an hour to us. We came to in L-Sama's realm, the Sea of Chaos. Apparently she and Gaia, another Goddess, had brought us there." 

"But, of course, that brings up the fact of how could a month pass here and only an hour pass to us," Lashana continued. "We were out cold. I know it seems kinda nuts that we were out that long, but.... but it took that long for the Goddess' Powers to fully meld with us." She waited until all the shocked whispers had died down. "Most of you have seen our new Powers in play already, and likewise you've seen us transform...." 

"Oh just spit it out!" Telca growled. "We're Avatars. Lashana's the Avatar to L-Sama, and I'm the Avatar to Gaia. When they let us use their Power to kill off that Highlord, their Powers accidentally bonded with our souls." 

A stunned silence fell over the entire Kitchen, broken only by the sound of Nightcrawler's fork hitting the floor. 

**Too true.**

Blackwargreymon blinked and turned to look at L-Sama, seeing her smile at him warmly before she turned her attention to the others. 

**Gaia and I -- where is she anyway? I told her to meet me here. Argh...**

**I'm here, I'm here. Don't get your Chaos in a knot.**

Lashana and Telca snickered at the near catatonic looks on the Guys faces as the second Goddess appeared in their Kitchen, drawing everyone male's attention. "What?" Telca grinned. "You should see the looks on your faces." 

Mewtwo mustered up enough coherency to glare at her before returning his gaze to the Goddesses'. ~Why them? And why keep them from us for so long?~ 

**The first is simple. **Gaia said. **They called to us during that battle with the Demon Highlord. We merely answered the wishes that were in their hearts.**

"...to save us," Remy breathed, looking from Telca to the two Goddesses. "Oui?" 

**Yes. And you must realize that if our Powers had not melded with their souls in the short period that they used them....they would be dead.** L-Sama told them. 

"Nothing like a load of good news to ruin an appetite," Telca grumbled as she tossed her chopstick over her shoulder. 

**As for why we kept them in L-Sama's realm for so long, we wanted to be certain that they would survive having our Powers become a part of them,** Gaia added, ignoring Telca's mutterings as she addressed the Harem. **Had we known what was to happen...perhaps we would have done things differently.**

~'Perhaps'?!~ 

"Mewtwo..." Lashana reached out and lay a hand on his arm as his eyes started glowing a bright blue, pulling him back down onto his seat. "Don't." 

~But--~ He turned and met her gaze, sighing when he saw the turmoil there. ~Alright.~ 

Everyone was silent for a moment, absorbing what they had just learned. It was Blackwargreymon that spoke up first, his arms going around Lashana as he did so. "What did you do to them? They.... changed...." 

**The transformations are a part of their new Avatar status,** L-Sama said, looking at him and smiling when she saw the fierce protectiveness in his eyes. **By transforming, their strength, magicks, abilities and senses multiply by a factor of ten. Though there is a setback that we didn't have time to tell you of before. **The last was directed to the two women. **Your transformations are limited to half-hour intervals. And there must be at least an hour of time between each transformation, else your bodies will go into shock and you may go into a comatose state.**

"Ouch," Telca muttered, leaning against Remy as she looked over at Gaia. "What else? You said before that Lashana an I weren't fully mortal anymore. Wha'd you mean by that?" 

"I knew they were Immortal," Duncan muttered under his breath. 

**They are not Immortal, Highlander.** Gaia chuckled. **Though their lifespans have been considerably lengthened, and they've also stopped aging. As to why you are not fully mortal, I would think that would be obvious... you do have Powers of the Gods within you, did you think that you would remain unchanged?**

"No," Lashana whispered softly, looking away when everyone turned their gazes to her. "Nothing stays unchanged....." 

**Child...** L-Sama walked/floated over to the Elf and brushed her fingers over her forehead. **You are so full of sorrow, My Knight. Perhaps I can brighten your existence a bit.**

Telca blinked as L-Sama lay her hands on Lashana and Blackwargreymon's foreheads, the Goddess smiling slightly as golden light enveloped the two for a moment before fading. "What was that?" 

**A gift.**

~A gift?~ Mewtwo frowned and glanced at Lashana, staring at the Elf as tears formed in her eyes. ~Lashana?~ 

"The Bond...." she whispered, twisting to throw herself into Blackwargreymon's open arms. "She brought back the Bond!" 

**I knew it! You _are_ a romantic! **Gaia chuckled, grinning at L-Sama when the Goddess glared at her. 

**Shut up. I can't have my only Avatar getting seriously depressed, now can I?**

"Uh...are we the only ones here who have no clue what's going on?" Nightcrawler asked, after he and Malcho had exchanged baffled looks. 

**It's simple. L-Sama and I have chosen your two sorceresses as our Avatars. Lashana is the Avatar to L-Sama, Mother of All and Ruler of the Sea of Chaos, while I, Gaia, Goddess of the Elements and Life, chose Telca as my Avatar.**

"Wait... L-Sama....is the Mother of All?!" Kang yelped. 

**Yes.**

"And Lashana...." 

**Is my Avatar. Yes. Are they always this slow?**

Lashana looked over at L-Sama and grinned. "They had thought that you were just the Goddess of Chaos, I didn't get around to telling them that you created the Universe." 

**Oh. Well, I suppose that explains why the chimera is twitching like that.....and why the draconian is unconscious on the floor.**

"You get used to them," Kenshin shrugged. 

"So wait, let me get this straight," Duncan said, ignoring all the groans from around the table as he pointed at L-Sama. "You created the Universe....and Gaia stuffed it with Life?" 

L-Sama blinked at him for a moment before exchanging a 'why me' look with Gaia. **No. I created the Universe and....'stuffed it' with Life. Gaia protects and nurtures that Life.**

"Oh. That's it?" 

**Why you little--**

**Now now, Gaia. We're not allowed to harm the mortals.**

**No, but our Avatar's can!** Gaia grinned, nodding to Telca in thanks when the sorceress beaned Duncan with a frying pan. 

Lashana smiled and hugged Blackwargreymon, closing her eyes as he grasped her waist and pulled her close so that she was sitting sideways on his lap. 

{Oh Gods I missed sensing you like this...} he whispered in her mind as he hugged her and curled his chin over her left shoulder, sighing contentedly. {Don't you ever leave me again.} 

**Quick! Get the camera!**

_FLASH!!_

"Got it!!" Nightcrawler announced, waving the camera triumphantly. 

**I'll be wanting an 8 x 11 copy of that.** L-Sama grinned. 

"Dibs on the negatives!" Telca said. "I've got plans." 

~Oh Gods....it never ends.~ 

Gaia smiled at the Pokemon. **Would you want it to?**

He chuckled and shook his head. ~Never.~ 

**Then duck, Telca's about to throw an egg roll at you.**

"Yare yare, what's going on in----_ L-Sama?!?_" 

Lashana rose her cheek from Black's shoulder and looked over at a shocked Xellos. "Close your mouth you fruitcake, you're catchin' flies." 

**Fruitcake?** L-Sama echoed, looking at the Elf curiously. 

"Yeah, he's just like a Christmas Fruitcake....no matter what you do, you can never get rid of the damned thing," Telca grinned, elicting an amused chuckle from the two Goddesses. 

**That's a good one. So, fruitcake, been on your best behavior?**

Xellos did his trademarked closed-eyed smiling 'I have a secret and I ain't telling you jack' look. "Of course, L-Sama!" 

**Liar.**

"Sore wa himitsu desu!" 

**Argh. **L-Sama glared at him. **You had better treat my Knight with the same fear and respect that you give me, understood? Else it's the eternal darkness dimension for you.**

"He'd probably like that," Zelgadis grumbled in disgust. 

**Actually no. Think of it as a huge sensory deprivation tank. No sounds, no touch, no people's emotions to live on....just yourself in an endless ocean of darkness....** The Goddess trailed off at the look of horror on the Mazoku's face and chuckled. **Get the point?**

"H-hai!" 

Blackwargreymon chuckled as L-Sama proceeded to have Xellos kneel on his hands and knees on the floor so she could use his back as a chair. "So he's got to behave now?" 

**Essentially, yes. Since Lashana is my Avatar, she outranks him in that stupid little mazoku hierarchy. Doesn't she Xellos?**

"Hai, L-Sama." 

**Good boy.**

Telca exchanged evil looks with Lashana and grinned. "You and me, we're gonna have grand fun with this." 

"Oh hell yes!" 

Xellos cringed.   
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Epilogue

_Insert usual disclaimer here._   


Epilogue   
  


Lashana sighed as she stared at the clock on the nightstand, blinking as she watched the digital numbers slowly tick by. It was only three am, yet she was wide awake. The dreams wouldn't let her rest. Memories of the fight in Hell, the tortured look in her Bonded's eyes as she said goodbye... they wouldn't leave her be.... and as a result, she was afraid to let sleep claim her, afraid that the moment she closed her eyes... the images would return. 

A low purr from behind her made her glance back at a sleeping Blackwargreymon as he curled himself closer to her, one arm going around her waist while the other slid under her to cradle her shoulders. She shivered and looked away, fighting tears. She would never be able to fully understand what the last month had been like for him, him or the others. But she didn't understand how they could think that just because to it had only seemed like an hour to Telca and herself....that they didn't think the two sorceresses carried any of their own pain. 

Raising a hand, she wiped at the moisture on her cheeks, then pulled out of Blackwargreymon's hold and got to her feet. She grabbed her housecoat and shoved her arms into the sleeves as she headed out of the room, silently closing the door behind her before going downstairs to the Kitchen. 

_Chocolate ice cream, the food to cure all depressed moods...._ She grabbed a spoon out of a drawer and carried her bounty outside onto the deck, sighing as she curled up in a chair and gazed up at the stars. "I wish I could tell them.... but they have enough of their own pain to deal with...." 

"Lashana?" 

She startled and looked over towards the patio door, frowning at the familiar form she saw there. "Telca?" 

"Yeah. I heard someone walking around... Mind if I join you? I brought my own spoon." 

"Pull up a chair. Misery loves company," Lashana muttered as she tore open the container and held it out to the other sorceress that had just shoved a deck chair next to hers. "Why are you up?" 

"Couldn't sleep." 

"Dreams?" 

"Yeah. You too?" 

"...yeah." Lashana ate a spoonful of ice cream and frowned. "Does Remy suspect anything?" 

"Dunno. We haven't really had a chance to talk. Does Blacky?" 

"No. I've been blocking my thoughts and emotions from him. I didn't want to make anything worse than it already was." 

"Worse?" 

The Elf figited and looked out over the lawn. "He cried himself to sleep." 

"Damn." Telca pulled the carton close and took a spoonful for herself. "What are we gonna do?" 

"Same as we always do : pretend that everythings okay." 

"You think that'll work? The Guys are getting really good at reading us when we're trying to trick them into thinking that." 

"It has to work," Lashana whispered. "It has to because pretending that everything's okay is the only thing that's keeping me together...." 

"Yeah..." There wasn't anything else she could say to that. It was all true. Telca sighed and leaned back in the chair, following the Elf's gaze up to the stars. "Would you change what we did if you had the chance?" 

Lashana shook her head. "Never. If we hadn't woven those spells everyone would be dead. I know it. We just have to wait until they figure that out." She sighed and closed her eyes. "There's nothing else we _can _do...." 

"We could pitch a fit just for the sake of venting." 

She chuckled. "I was thinking of a Danger Room session with a few of those Sentinal Robots." 

"That too. Destruction always helps to get the stress level down," Telca agreed in between mouthfuls of chocolate ice cream. 

"Yare yare. What are you two doing up?" 

The two sorceresses grimaced and turned to look at the resident fruitcake. Aka Xellos. "Go away." 

He frowned at the duet of depressed tones. "Not that I mind the tasty emotions... but what's wrong?" 

Lashana snorted. "Oh yeah. Like _you_ care. Leave us alone, Xel." 

He hummed and casually floated off the deck, lying down in mid-air as he flew over to hover in front of them, eyes fully open. "Now now, Knight-sama. L-Sama told me that I had to take care of you," he paused at the grimace of disgust and pouted. "What? You don't like me?" 

"Only figured that out now, huh?" Telca sneered. 

Undeterred, after all he was used to this, he floated down and sat on the edge of the deck's patio table, resting his elbows on his knees as he gazed at the two sorceresses. "It's the dreams, isn't it?" 

Lashana frowned at him, slightly surprised by the seriousness of hs voice. Gone was the trickster facade, this was a High Level Mazoku. "What do you know about that?" 

"Do you think you two are the first mortals to have died and then brought back?" Xellos asked, smiling at them. "Every one reacted the same way. They had nightmares of the last moments of their lives. And since your deaths were especially tramatic, I'd imagine that your nightmares are rather...vivid." 

Telca glanced at Lashana warily, then met Xellos' gaze. "What happened to them? The others?" 

"Most of them went mad," he shrugged, raising a hand and grasping the wooden staff that materialized in front of him. "But I'm not allowed to let that happen to you. Actually I would have done this even if L-Sama hadn't ordered me to." 

"Done what?" Lashana growled, blinking when he held the staff out and bonked her over the head with the red jewel embedded into the top of it. "Hey ow! What'd you do that for?" 

"Because I'm not going to tell you answers to questions like that and you know it," he winked, grinning at the glare she sent him. "Sore wa himitsu desu, Lashana-chan!" 

"Don't call me 'chan'," she snarled. 

"Can't you go play in traffic or something?" Telca said, exasperated with all of his antics. "We want to be left alone." 

"Hai, hai. I'll leave you alone, Telca-chan!" Xellos chuckled. "Besides, I believe that you're about to get some company." 

"What company?! Dammit, Xellos! Get back here!!" Lashana yelled as he gave them a gaudy little wave and teleported away. "Bastard." 

"We've got to look into Mazoku Repellant," Telca grumbled, hearing the Elf growl in agreement. She ate another spoonful of ice cream then tensed, looking back towards the Kitchen. "Damn." 

"What?" Lashana frowned, raising herself in her chair and peeking over the back of it, frowning at the familiar form in the doorway. "Crap. How long have you been there?" 

"Since the part about the nightmares," Blackwargreymon rumbled, looking at her worriedly. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"That's my cue to leave," Telca said as she jumped to her feet. "See y'all later!" 

"Traitor," Lashana grumbled as the other sorceress darted past the Digimon and bolted deeper into the Palace. 

"Lashana." 

She sighed and slouched in the chair. "It's nothing serious. Everythings fi--" 

Blackwargreymon cut her off by moving in front of her and grabbing her shoulders, shaking her roughly as he met her shocked gaze. "Why didn't you tell me?!" 

"Tell you what?" she growled as she shoved him away and got to her feet, glaring up at him. "Tell you about the nightmares? About what it feels like when I have to relive my death over and over again? About what it felt like when that bastard took you from me? Or maybe you want me to tell you what it feels like to come back here and find out that I've seemingly lost a month of my life! Maybe I should tell you about what it was like when I got back here barely in time to stop one of my best friends from slitting his wrists! Or how it feels to know that what I did hurt you and everyone else more than _anything_ that Demon Highlord could have done to you! Is that what you want to hear?! _Is it?!_" 

He backed away, startled by her sudden ferocity, almost unable to meet her gaze as she glared at him. She was crying again, though she seemed completely oblivious to her tears as she stood before him, and he realized that in all the time he had known her, that he had never seen her look so vulnerable before. "Lashana..." he blinked away tears when she recoiled from him, hugging herself as she looked away and shook her head. "Lashana, please." 

She shook her head, sinking her fangs into her lower lip. The emotions that this confrontation had unleashed were wreaking havoc on her hold of the Chaos Power, a shudder wracking her as she tried to hold it back. "....can't...." 

"Can't what?" Blackwargreymon frowned, his instincts telling him that something was horribly wrong. That was proven seconds later as she dropped to her knees, black spines bursting from her arms as she dug her now black talons into the floor of the deck. He gasped and rushed to her side, lying a hand over her back, eyes widening when he felt how tensed she was. "Lashana!" 

_Gotta calm down. Gotta calm down.... _She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut, trying to force the sudden Power surge down by pure willpower. _If I don't get control of this there's no telling what will happ--_ A gasp escaped her as arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her into a tight embrace as a low reassuring purr rumbled out of the chest she was being cradled against, the sensation of someone lightly nuzzling her cheek making her twist to look at Blackwargreymon. _What is he...?_

"I love you." 

Lashana shuddered, her eyes closing again as the Chaos suddenly settled under her control, leaving her completely exhausted and worn out. She gasped and automatically curled up in Black's arms, clinging to him as tightly as he was clinging to her, sighing as she felt him rub his cheek against the side of her head. 

She didn't know how long they sat there in silence, their gazes fixed on the sky and the stars that glowed there. Truthfully she didn't want to start talking again, because then the questions would start again.... questions that she didn't want to have to answer. 

"Lashana?" 

She sighed and rested her cheek on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Yeah?" 

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I figured you had enough things to deal with without me adding to them," she murmured. "Guess I blew that plan to scrap didn't I?" 

"Yeah..." He lowered his gaze from the stars and looked down at her, tugging on a lock of her hair until she rose her head, letting him meet her gaze. "...'Shana. I don't want to watch you slowly kill yourself from the inside. You can't keep trying to protect me from everything."   


"This coming from the one who glares at anyone who comes near me." 

"That's different." 

"Oh, is it now?" 

"Yes... Lashana, I know you love me, and I know you're only trying to keep me from worrying. But it doesn't work. I've been living with you for almost a year now, you can't hide anything from me." 

"I can damn well try," she muttered, elicting a low growl. "I just don't want to see you hurt again." She sighed when he didn't answer and pulled away, getting to her feet and going over to stand at the deck's railing. "You can't hide things from me either, Black. Even when you try to block yourself from me, I can always sense you. Always.... Your pain is mine, you know. That's a part of the Soul Bond, when one is hurting, so to is the other." 

He frowned at her. "You never told me that before." 

She shrugged. "It didn't seem important," she murmured. 

"Why tell me now then?" 

"Because I want you to understand why I'm currently blocking you. You have enough of your own pain to deal with, Black. You shouldn't have to deal with mine too." 

There was a moment of silence before he lunged to his feet and grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around to face him. "You idiot! What the hell's the matter with you?! God dammit, Lashana, I _love_ you! I know you better than _anyone_. I don't need some stupid Bond to tell me if you're hurting!" He growled and rose a hand to her face, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "I can see the pain in your eyes, 'Shana.... Everytime I look at you it's like another part of you has been consumed.... did you ever think that I was hurting because you won't let me help you?" 

She stared at him in shock, searching his gaze and finding only his love for her. Shuddering, she let him pull her into a strong hug, feeling his presence force it's way through the blocks she had risen until his very soul enveloped her in warmth. _Only the closest Bonded Pairs can touch each other's Souls...._ She looked up at him and saw him smile at her warmly. 

"No more hiding from me....alright?" he whispered, relaxing when she nodded. "Good. Come back to bed, my Bonded. You won't have any more nightmares." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Ugh," Xellos gagged from where he was watching the two from the Dining Room. "It's enough to make an honest Mazoku hurl." 

"Good thing you're not an honest Mazoku then." 

He smirked and looked at the pair behind him. "Yare yare, Telca-chan. You're so mean to me!" 

"Maudit espece de--" 

Telca reached up and lay a finger over Remy's lips, cutting him off. "Why'd you do it, Xel? Why'd you help us get Lashana and Blacky to realize what they had been doing to each other?" 

"Orders from L-Sama, Telca-chan," he shrugged. "I'm supposed to watch over Knight-Sama." 

She shook her head. "This is going above and beyond the call of duty." 

"True." He grinned and fully opened his eyes. "Perhaps I've gotten attached to the two of you." 

"You're kiddin' right?" Remy frowned, hugging Telca and pulling her back from the Mazoku. 

Xellos chuckled, wagging a finger at the Cajun. "Sore wa himitsu desu," he murmured before teleporting away. 

"I'll never understand him," Telca muttered sourly. 

"Why would you want to chere?" Remy asked, looking at her in mock horror and smiling when she chuckled. "So, what we do for de rest of de night?" 

"Sleep. Getting Elfy and Blacky back together is tiring," she yawned, pulling him after her as she headed for the Main Stairs. 

"Why you not tell her dat you an I already talk about de battle, chere?" 

She shrugged. "Deception is a useful thing," she told him. "'Sides, if I had told her that, she would have thought I was there to rub her face in it. Usually I would, but not this time. This isn't the time for any 'I told you so's'." 

He smiled at her and murmured her name as he lightly kissed her cheek. "Let's go back to bed, chere. Remy gettin' cold in dis night air." 

Telca grinned.   
  



End file.
